Dreams
by Erin T. Aardvark
Summary: Wembley is placed under a strange sleeping spell, and Gobo and Lou try to find a way to break it.
1. Wembley's Dream

_AUTHOR'S NOTE: This story was inspired by the "Dream Chronicles" trilogy by Play First Games and Kat Games. Be prepared for a long story, because, as opposed to my Impossibles fanfics based on games and their sequels, this story uses all three of the "Dream Chronicles" games. The Fraggles and Marjory the Trash Heap belong to Jim Henson. Lilith, Herbert, and Merrow belong to the games. The country of Fraggledonia belongs to me (incidentally, I strongly suggest reading my fanfic, "The Chosen Fraggle," before reading this story, as that goes into further detail about Fraggledonia). Wiggly the Burrow Beast, and the Fraggles' parents belong to me. I'm also giving Marjory the Trash Heap a bit of a back story in this. It is my own idea, and PLEASE do NOT confuse it with the show's canon. Actually, don't confuse anything I write in this story with the show's canon._

* * *

It was a misty morning in Fraggle Rock. Five-year-old Wembley Fraggle was walking around the mist, clutching a handmade Fraggle doll, looking around nervously. Nothing looked familiar to him. The Great Hall was gone, his friends were gone, and all of the other Fraggles were gone. All that remained was the mist. Alone and scared, Wembley sat down where he was, and started to cry. Suddenly, he felt himself being picked up, and someone started rubbing his back.

"There, there," a familiar voice said. Wembley looked up, and saw the face of his mother, Wini Fraggle. He broke into a big smile, and flung his arms around her neck.

"Mommy!" he cried, happily. "You came back!"

"Of course I came back!" Wini shouted. "You don't think I'd leave you, do you?"

"Don't go away, again, Mommy! Don't ever go away!"

Wini didn't say anything. She just hugged Wembley.

Suddenly, everything disappeared, and Wembley woke up from his dream. He was a little confused at first, but then he slowly came to the realization he was only dreaming. He heaved a sigh, and climbed down the ladder that led to his bunk. His roommate and best friend, Gobo, was already up.

"Morning, Wembley," he said.

"Hi," Wembley said, with a sigh that could have been heard in the Gorgs' garden.

"Hey, what's the matter, fella?" Gobo asked. "Bad dream?"

"Well . . . . yes, and no. I dreamt I was five years old, and my mom came back to Fraggle Rock."

"Oh."

That was all Gobo could say. He knew Wembley's mother dropped Wembley off at the cave Gobo shared with his uncle Matt when Wembley was five (Gobo was eight at the time), and then she left Fraggle Rock, and didn't come back. Every single Fraggle figured she just abandoned Wembley, but no one could figure out the reason.

Wembley heaved another sigh, and Gobo put his hand on his friend's shoulder, trying to comfort him.

"I know you miss your mom," he said. "It's gotta be hard for you. I never even knew my parents, since they were killed in a cave in when I was only a little over a year old. All of us know what it's like to lose a parent. Red's dad had a head-on collision in the Fraggle Five Hundred when she was ten, Mokey's dad was squished by the Gorgs when she was four, and then her mom was squished about five years ago, Boober's father choked on a radish chip, and his mother accidentally broke his ribs when she tried to to the Fragglich Maneuver on him, and then a year later, his mom had a heart attack."

"Yeah, but they didn't just dump them somewhere and then up and leave. I don't know if Mom's even still alive or not."

"I'm sorry, pal. I really didn't help much, did I? Hey, you wanna come with me and see if I got a postcard from Uncle Matt?"

"No thanks, Gobo."

Wembley sighed again, and left the cave. Gobo didn't know what else to do, so he left as well, in order to let Red, Mokey, and Boober know Wembley was feeling a bit down that day.

"He said he dreamed his mom came back," he explained. "I guess he was disappointed that it was only a dream."

"Poor little guy," Boober said. "I'm just glad I was old enough to understand about death when my parents died. I wasn't a little kid, thank goodness."

"Watch it, Boober," Red said. "Gobo, Mokey, and I were kids when we lost our parents."

"Sorry," Boober said.

"Well, maybe we should take Wembley to go see Lou," Mokey suggested. "She always manages to cheer him up."

"We can't," Gobo said. "Lou's over in Fraggledonia, taking care of some business. The work of a royal Fraggle is never done. She's not due back here until tomorrow."

On a recent adventure of the Fraggle Five, they had found out Wembley's friend, Lou, was the descendant of a princess of a then-unnamed land, making her the new princess. She decided to call the land Fraggledonia. Not wanting to stay there and rule forever, she assigned a group of goblins (who had been previously working for an evil sorceress who was trying to gain control of not only Fraggledonia, but the entire universe as well) to watch over the place, unless the goblins needed Lou for anything majorly important, in which case, she would go to Fraggledonia, do what she had to do, and then come back to Fraggle Rock. The six Fraggles had agreed not to tell anyone else about Lou's royal title, or background, as they figured it would cause nothing but trouble. They did tell the other Fraggles about Fraggledonia, however, but they didn't reveal too much.

"I hate it when Lou's in Fraggledonia when Wembley's in a deep blue funk," Red said. "Sometimes, she's the only one who can get him out of it."

"Well, why don't we just leave him alone for awhile?" Mokey asked. "Sometimes, these things have a way of working out for themselves."

"Yeah, but we should keep an eye on him," Boober said. "Depression can be an ugly thing."

The others agreed, and went off to put in their thirty minutes of work. As the day went on, Wembley seemed to have forgotten about his dream, and the other Fraggles decided not to bring it up.

"I can't wait until Lou gets back," he said at dinner. "Sometimes, I hate it when she has to go to Fraggledonia! I miss her too much when she does!"

"I know," Gobo said. "But you could always go with her when she has to go. You've done that before."

"We all have," Mokey said. "We've spent lots of time over in Fraggledonia! Lou's designated rooms in the castle there for the five of us. Though it was kind of funny when we found out the only creatures that live in Fraggledonia are goblins and Fraggles."

"I know I could have gone with Lou," Wembley said. "But I just didn't feel like going this time."

"It's just as well," Red said. "I think the Fraggles that live in Fraggledonia are weird. Even weirder than the Cave Fraggles! Most of them work eight hours a day, and they don't give neat things to each other like we do. They have to pay for it using . . . . using . . . . what did Lou say that stuff was called again?"

"Money," Gobo said. "The Silly Creatures use it, too. Personally, I don't think it'll ever catch on, but the Fraggles that live in Fraggledonia told Lou that was how their economy worked, and even though she's the princess, and has the power to change the rules, she doesn't want to mess with it, because the Fraggledonians are happy with the way it works over there."

"Different strokes for different Fraggles," Boober said. "Personally, I don't like going all the way to Fraggledonia. You have to go all the way to the other side of the Gorgs' castle just to get to the path that leads to the river that takes you there, and the river is full of those Fraggle-eating bananacuda fish! You know they can manage to swallow a Gorg whole!"

"Don't remind me," Red said, grimacing.

"Then there's the fact that I get seasick," Boober said. "Personally, I don't see how Lou stands it! I also don't see how she can even _think_ about using goblins to run that place when she's not there!

"Cut it out, Boober," Gobo said. "Let's not talk about it. The goblins are trained to take orders from whoever is in charge of the Fraggledonian castle, remember?"

"But what if there's a revolt?" Boober asked.

"Personally, Boober," Red said, "I think you're the one that's revolting."

"Very funny," Boober said, sarcastically.

"Come on, you guys!" Wembley shouted. "Stop fighting! You know I don't like it when you guys fight!"

Red and Boober apologized, and stopped fighting. Red started talking about a swimming show she was thinking about organizing instead. Gobo looked over at Wembley, who was listening intently. He was glad to see his little green friend was in a better mood, but for some reason, he was starting to get a funny feeling about something, but he wasn't sure what it was.


	2. Gobo's Dream

That night, Gobo had a strange dream. In it, he and Wembley were exploring the castle in Fraggledonia, looking for secret passages, when a light flashed, and a Silly Creature appeared before them. She had short, dark hair, and wore a red shirt and red pants, and carried a crystal ball in one hand. She looked down at the two Fraggles, and smiled, but it wasn't a friendly type of smile, and it made them both nervous.

"Who are you?" Gobo asked.

The Silly Creature said nothing, and waved her hand across her crystal ball. Strange music was heard, and suddenly, Wembley collapsed to the ground.

"Wembley!" Gobo shouted, running over to his best friend, forgetting about the Silly Creature for the moment. He began shaking his little green friend's shoulder.

"Wembley, wake up!" he shouted. "Come on, Wembley! Come on and wake up! What's the matter with you? Wake up!"

No matter what Gobo tried, Wembley wouldn't wake up. He was in too deep of a sleep. Gobo looked up at the Silly Creature.

"Did you do this?" he asked. "Why? Why would you want to put Wembley into such a deep sleep? What is this, some kind of sleeping spell? Why would you cast a sleeping spell on him?"

The Silly Creature didn't respond. She just smiled sneakily at Gobo, and waved her hand over her crystal ball again. In another flash of light, Wembley disappeared. Gobo gasped.

"Wembley!" he called out. "Wembley, where are you?!"

Gobo looked around frantically, but couldn't find a trace of Wembley anywhere. Then he looked at the Silly Creature, and her crystal ball. He saw Wembley's image inside of it, but he couldn't tell where he was. All he could tell was that Wembley was asleep.

"Wembley!" he shouted. Then he glared up at the Silly Creature. "What do you do with him?! Why?! Who are you, anyway?! What do you want?!"

The Silly Creature just laughed evilly, and disappeared in a flash of bright light. Gobo immediately woke up from his dream, and sat up with a start. He caught his breath, and looked around, realizing he was in his own cave. He was brought out of his thoughts by a soft thump. He looked around, and found what had made the noise. A plush Fraggle doll had fallen onto the floor. Gobo knew it was Wembley's, and that he had that doll since he was a baby. His mother had made it for him, and he slept with it almost every night. Even though most of the Fraggles found that to be a bit babyish, Wembley didn't seem to care. He told everyone having the doll comforted him.

Gobo immediately became nervous seeing the Fraggle doll on the floor. He jumped out of bed, and climbed up the ladder to Wembley's bunk, nervous about it being empty. Thankfully, for his peace of mind, Wembley was there, sleeping soundly, with his arm hanging over the side of the bed. Gobo heaved a sigh of relief, figuring Wembley had shifted positions in his sleep, and dropped his doll without realizing it. He climbed down, retrieved the stuffed toy, and positioned it under Wembley's arm. Then he went back down the ladder, and went back to his own bed and tried to get back to sleep, but he kept having that same dream.

By morning, the Fraggle Five went out to the Gorgs' garden, and looked around for the Gorgs. When they saw they weren't around, they ran around the castle, and down the path that lead to the river. They were going to meet Lou at the dock there when she returned from Fraggledonia. Red was in the lead, which she found strange, because it was usually Gobo who would take the lead.

"Hey, Gobo!" she called out. "What's the matter? Stay up too late reading your collection of postcards from Outer Space?"

"Very funny, Red," Gobo said, stifling a yawn.

"Didn't you get enough sleep last night, Gobo?" Mokey asked.

"I guess not," Gobo said, yawning again.

"Why not?" Wembley asked. "Did you have a bad dream or something?"

"No," Gobo said, quickly. "No, it's not that. I just . . . . I just couldn't get comfortable, that's all."

Gobo didn't want to tell Wembley, or the others, about his dream, especially since he had the same dream more than once. For one thing, he didn't want to scare Wembley into thinking something bad was going to happen to him (Gobo was nervous enough about that already), and he didn't want to hear Boober go on and on about how recurring dreams meant the end of the world, for another.

The five Fraggles arrived at the docks just as the boat from Fraggledonia arrived. Lou saw her friends on the shore, and waved to them.

"Hi, guys!" she called out.

"Hi, Lou!" Wembley shouted, excitedly. "Boy, I'm glad you're back!"

"Wembley, I was only gone for two days!" Lou shouted, as she walked down the gangplank.

"I know, but it seems like it was longer," Wembley said.

"How was your trip?" Mokey asked.

"Oh, it was fine," Lou said. "I didn't understand half the stuff they were talking about, though, especially when they started talking about economy. In one ear, and right out the other. That's one reason I have the goblins in charge of things. They know what they're doing."

"Here, Lou, I brought you some oranges," Boober said, handing Lou a basket.

"Thanks, Boober," Lou said, a little confused. "But what for?"

"In case of scurvy, of course!" Boober shouted. "I heard that being on a boat can subject you to awful things like scurvy, and dysentary, and malaria, and malnutrition, and typhus, and sea-sickness, and . . . . ."

"Oh, Boober!" Lou groaned.

"Sheesh!" Wembley shouted.

"Give us a break, already!" Red shouted. Mokey just sighed. Gobo didn't say anything. He was too tired.

"So, how's the Royal Gobo?" Lou teased.

"Hmm?" Gobo asked, snapping to attention. "What?"

"You know," Lou said. "The Royal Gobo. It's usually called a royal herald, but Harold couldn't make it so they sent you instead?"

"Oh," Gobo said. "Oh yeah. Ha, ha, ha. Very funny, Lou. Ha, ha."

"Hey, Red, what's the matter with him?" Lou asked.

"Beats me," Red said, shrugging. "He says he didn't much sleep last night."

"Oh," Lou said. "Oh well. Come on, guys, let's head back to the Rock."

And with that, the six Fraggles went back to Fraggle Rock. Gobo went back to bed immediately to catch up on some sleep. Unfortunately, every time he tried to get some sleep, he had the same dream he had the night before. It was driving him crazy. He finally decided to forget it, and headed off to see what everyone else was doing. Red was off swimming, Boober was doing laundry, Mokey was painting, and Wembley and Lou were just sitting around, talking about Lou's trip.

"The goblins trapped a baby Burrow Beast the day I arrived," Lou said. "It was by accident, though. They were trying to trap these things called gophers and moles that eat the vegetables in their garden. Burrow Beasts dig, sure, but they don't like vegetables. They prefer to eat bugs."

"Yeah, I know," Wembley said. "Eating bugs. Yuck!"

"Really," Lou said. "Anyway, they let him go, but he came back. Every time they tried to let him go, he kept coming back, so they decided to keep him."

"Really? Can you even tame a Burrow Beast?"

"Yeah, if it's a baby. And I gotta tell you something, Wembley, he is the cutest thing I've ever seen!"

"Yeah, there's one good thing about baby Burrow Beasts. They're cute, but they don't cling to ya like Rock Clingers!"

"The goblins named him Wiggly, because he wiggles a lot. Not to mention licks your face a lot."

"Ew, yuck! Why does he do _that_?!"

"Beats me. The goblins said he was being friendly. But seriously, Wembley, he's really adorable, and useful in the garden."

"Yeah, I guess so, since Burrow Beasts eat bugs, he can eat up all the bugs that eat plants."

Gobo walked by just then, yawned, and sat down. He felt like he was going to fall asleep any second.

"Hi, Gobo!" Wembley shouted. "Lou was just telling us about her new pet Burrow Beast!"

"Yeah, I heard about it," Gobo said, yawning.

"Boy, you really must've had a rough night," Lou said. "Wembley, you didn't notice anything about Gobo last night, did you?"

"No, I was sound asleep," Wembley said, shrugging. "You sure you didn't have a bad dream that kept you awake?"

"No!" Gobo shouted quickly, which caused Wembley and Lou to jump back, a bit startled.

"I mean, no, I guess I just couldn't get comfortable, you know what I mean?" Gobo asked, calming down a little.

"Maybe it's time for a new mattress or something," Wembley said.

"Yeah, that's probably it," Gobo said. "See you later, guys!"

And with that, Gobo ran off. He hated keeping secrets from his friends, but he wasn't ready to talk about this dream yet.


	3. Strange Music

That night, Gobo wasn't the only one dreaming. Lou was involved in a dream as well. She was in the Fraggledonian castle garden with Wembley, and they were playing with Wiggly the Burrow Beast. Suddenly, the sky turned dark, and thunder and lightning crashed and flashed. Wiggly whimpered, and ran into a little house the goblins had built for him. A light flashed, and there stood a Silly Creature with short, dark hair, carrying a crystal ball. It was the same Silly Creature from Gobo's dream, but Lou wasn't aware of it. She smirked at the two Fraggles, and waved her hand over her crystal ball. It began floating in the air, freeing the Silly Creature's hands. She walked over to Lou and Wembley, bent down, grabbed Wembley by the arms, and lifted him off the ground as she stood up.

"Hey!" Wembley shouted. "Let me go!"

"What do you think you're doing?" Lou asked. "Who are you, anyway?!"

The Silly Creature didn't speak. She waved her hand over the floating crystal ball, and strange music came out of it. Immediately, Wembley dropped off to sleep, the same deep sleep he was under in Gobo's dream.

"Stop!" Lou shouted. "As princess of Fraggledonia, I command you to let him go!"

Lou didn't normally like to pull rank, or even tell anyone she was a princess, but this was an emergency. The Silly Creature laughed, and waved her hand over her crystal ball again. In a flash of light, she disappeared, but Lou could still hear her evil laughter echoing in her ears. Even when she woke up, she could still hear the laughter. She immediately wanted to head to Gobo and Wembley's cave to see if Wembley was all right, but it was still dark outside. She knew Gobo wouldn't appreciate being woken up in the middle of the night, so she decided to try and go back to sleep, though when she did, she had the same dream, much like Gobo.

The next morning, both Gobo and Lou looked like wrecks. Neither of them had gotten any sleep, thanks to the dreams they were having, but neither of them wanted to talk about it.

"Boy, you two look terrible!" Red shouted.

"Yeah, well . . . ." Gobo said, shrugging.

"I have to get used to my bed all over again," Lou said. "You know how it is. You get used to sleeping on something, then you go away and have to sleep on something different, and you get used to what you're sleeping on, and then you come back and you have to get used to your old bed all over again."

"I suppose," Mokey said, thoughtfully.

"Oh yeah, she's right, she's definitely right," Gobo said. "That's the way it is when you go on overnight explorations! Matter of fact, that's probably my problem too!"

"But Gobo, you haven't been on an overnight exploration in months," Mokey pointed out.

"And how can you get used to sleeping in a new bed when you've only been gone for two days?" Boober asked.

"Go soak your laundry, Boober," Gobo said.

And with that, Gobo left the Great Hall, and Lou followed. Red, Mokey, Boober, and Wembley looked at each other, and shrugged. They didn't know what else to do.

While Gobo was walking along down the path, he noticed Lou running up to him.

"Hey, Gobo!" she called. "Wait a minute, I want to talk to you!"

"What about?" Gobo asked, turning around.

"You wouldn't happen to have had a weird dream last night," Lou said, ". . . . would you?"

"Uhhh, uhhh, uhhhhh . . . ." Gobo stammered. "Uhhh, what makes you think that, Lou?"

"Because I had one last night, which is why I'm feeling like I was run over by a boulder. You've been looking exactly how I'm feeling right now for the past two days."

Gobo sighed. Lou had him there. He looked around to see if there were any other Fraggles around, and then turned to Lou.

"Okay, you've got me," he said. "Every time I try to sleep, I have the same dream. But I don't want anybody else to know. Especially not Wembley, or Boober!"

"Something happened to Wembley in your dream, didn't it?" Lou asked.

"How'd you know?"

"Call it a hunch. And I can understand not wanting to let Boober know about it, what with his 'it's the end of the world as we know it' attitude. A recurring dream will just add fuel to the fire. So what do you think we should do?"

"Maybe if we share our dream, we can figure out what to do. As the Trash Heap once said, two heads are better than one."

"Okay, if you say so."

Gobo and Lou got down onto the ground, and stretched out, making sure their heads were touching.

"You ready?" Gobo asked.

"Ready," Lou said. "Go ahead and say it."

"Okay. Dream a dream and see . . . ."

"What a dream can be."

The minute Gobo and Lou spoke those words, they were transported into the Fraggledonian castle.

"Who's dream are we in?" Lou asked.

"Mine, I think," Gobo said. "We were inside the castle in mine."

"We were in the garden in mine. So, now, what do you think we should . . . ."

"Hi, Gobo! Hi, Lou!" Wembley shouted, as he ran up to his friends.

"Wembley!" Gobo shouted. "Come on, we've got to get out of here!"

"Why? What's the matter?" Wembley asked.

"Come on!" Lou shouted. "She might show up any minute!"

"Who?" Wembley asked.

Just then, there was a crash of thunder, and flash of lightning. The Silly Creature Gobo and Lou had seen in their dreams appeared.

"Who is that?" Wembley asked.

Before any of the Fraggles could answer, the Silly Creature waved her hand over her crystal ball, and strange music came out of it.

"Don't listen, Wembley!" Gobo shouted.

"Whatever you do, don't listen to the music!" Lou warned.

"Why not?" Wembley asked. Then he stifled a yawn. "I've never heard music like this before! But it does . . . . make me . . . . a little . . . . sleepy . . . ."

"No, Wembley!" Gobo shouted, but it was too late. Wembley succumbed to the strange music, and fell to the floor in that same, strange, deep sleep.

The Silly Creature laughed, and picked up the sleeping Fraggle. Gobo and Lou ran toward her, ready to fight, but in a flash, she had disappeared, though the two Fraggles could still hear her evil laughter. They woke up immediately afterward.

"Okay," Gobo said. "So we both had the same dream. Or at least they were similar."

"Yeah," Lou said. "Both our dreams had the same basic gist. Some strange Silly Creature puts Wembley in some kind of sleep, and then vanishes with him. But why? And who is this Silly Creature anyway?"

"I don't know. She definitely doesn't look like any Silly Creature I've seen before!"

While Gobo and Lou pondered over their dreams, Mokey, Boober, Red, and Wembley were hanging out in the Great Hall. Red was practicing diving, Boober was doing laundry, Mokey was painting, and Wembley was trying to perfect his technique for a Fraggle game known as "Sploosh." That was when Fraggles took a pile of pebbles and pushed them into the pond to make a "sploosh" sound. Wembley could never get the hang of it, though. Every time he tried, his pebbles always went "plink-plink-plink-plink." As he was doing this, he suddenly stopped when he heard something.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Sounds like music," Mokey said. "I wonder if the Minstrels are back?"

"I don't think so," Red said. "It doesn't sound like Cantus's pipe to me."

"Whatever it is, it's weird," Boober said. "Isn't it, Wembley?"

Wembley didn't answer. He just stood up, and began following the music.

"Wembley?" Boober asked. "Hey, Wembley!"

"Where are you going?" Mokey asked.

Again, Wembley didn't answer. He seemed to be in a trance. Immediately, Mokey and Red followed him, but they were having a hard time keeping up with him. He seemed to be moving as if he was floating.

"What's going on here?" Mokey asked.

"I don't know," Red said. "But I don't like it one bit!"

"Me neither. Wembley, wait for us!"

"Yeah, Wembley, stop!"

Wembley kept on moving through the cave tunnels, following that strange music, until Mokey and Red finally lost him, and the music stopped as well.

"I'm beginning to like this less and less," Mokey said. "I'm starting to get a funny feeling in my stomach, Red."

"Me too," Red said. "Come on!"

Immediately, Red and Mokey ran down a tunnel. While they were searching for Wembley, Gobo and Lou returned to the Great Hall.

"Where is everybody?" Gobo asked, referring to his friends.

"I don't know," Boober said, shrugging. "We heard this weird music, and Wembley went off following it, and Mokey and Red went to follow him. I just stayed put to finish my laundry because I don't want to get involved with it, because it could be dangerous."

"Did you just say Wembley went to follow some strange music?" Lou asked.

"Yeah," Boober said. "It was weird, too. It was like he was in a trance."

Gobo and Lou looked at each other nervously.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Gobo asked.

"Oh yeah!" Lou shouted. "I sure am!"

"Which way did he go, Boober?" Gobo asked.

"That way," Boober said, pointing.

Immediately, Gobo and Lou ran down the tunnel Boober was indicating. Boober looked at them go, wondering what was going on, but then went back to his laundry. He had a feeling nothing good would come from following his friends.

Gobo and Lou practically raced down the path, getting more and more nervous with every step. Since their dreams involved strange music, they had to find Wembley and fast.

"We have to get to Wembley before something happens!" Gobo shouted.

"Right!" Lou shouted. "I just hope we're not too late!"

The next thing the two Fraggles heard were two ear shattering shrieks up ahead in the tunnel. They stopped for a moment, startled.

"That was Red and Mokey!" Gobo shouted, when he got his wits back. "It came from this way! Come on!"

Gobo and Lou ran down the tunnel at an even faster pace. There they found Red, Mokey, and Wembley. Wembley was laying on the ground, unconscious, and Red was shaking his shoulder as hard as she could. Mokey was just standing there, wringing her hands, nervously.

"Wembley, come on!" Red shouted, as she shook the green Fraggle. "Wake up! Come on, Wembley, please wake up!"

"What happened?!" Gobo shouted, and he ran over to his best friend.

"I don't know," Mokey said. "When we got here, we found Wembley laying here like this."

"I've been trying to wake him up, but he won't," Red said. "Don't worry about him being hurt, Gobo, he isn't. We made sure of that before I started shaking him."

Gobo bent down, and held Wembley in a sitting position. Then he began gently slapping him in the face, to try to get him to wake up.

"Come on, buddy," he said. "Come on, wake up, Wembley! Snap out of it!"

Lou tried snapping her fingers in Wembley's face, but that didn't work, either. He was out like a light.

"Stand back, everybody!" Red shouted. "I have a fool proof method of getting him to wake up!"

Red cleared her throat, and kneeled down right next to Wembley.

"Weeeeemmmmmmbleeeeeyyyyy," she said, softly. Then she took a deep breath.

" _YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!_ " she shrieked at the top of her lungs, right in Wembley's ear. Gobo, Mokey, and Lou nearly jumped out of their skin.

"You could wake the dead with a scream like that, Red!" Gobo shouted.

"Unfortunately, it didn't seem to work on Wembley," Mokey said.

Gobo looked down, and noticed Wembley was still asleep.

"Okay, then," Red said. "I have another idea. It's not a very nice thing to do to him, but we don't have a choice. To the Fraggle Pond!"

The four Fraggles picked up Wembley, and carried him back to the Great Hall. They stopped when they reached the pool.

"Okay, everybody, on my count," Red said. "One, two, three, HEAVE!"

Gobo, Mokey, Red, and Lou then flung Wembley into the pool, hoping the cold water would wake him up. When he didn't come out right away, they knew it hadn't worked. Red immediately dove in, and fished him out of the pool before he drowned.

"Well, I'm out of ideas," she said.

"What's going on, anyway?" Boober asked.

"Wembley's fallen asleep, and we can't wake him up," Mokey explained. "We've tried everything!"

"This calls for a Bleach Nut!" Boober shouted. "I'll be right back!"

"Oh no," Red groaned. "Not one of Boober's Bleach Nuts!"

"We don't have a choice," Gobo said. "If that won't wake Wembley up, nothing will!"

Boober returned to the Great Hall shortly afterward, carrying one of his foul-smelling Bleach Nuts. Nobody in the Rock liked the smell of them, but sometimes, they were good for emergencies, and not just laundry emergencies, either.

"Stand back!" Boober shouted.

The other Fraggles stood back, and Boober threw the Bleach Nut right at Wembley. When it hit the ground, it exploded into white dust, and the disgusting smell of bleach filled the air. Gobo, Mokey, Red, and Lou coughed, gagged, groaned and held their noses.

"Oh, boy, I hate the smell of Bleach Nuts in the morning!" Red groaned.

"Yeah, Gobo said, with a cough. He waved the dust away, and looked down at Wembley. Nothing had changed. He was still asleep.

"Uh oh . . . ." Mokey said.

"I thought for sure that would work!" Boober shouted. "What are we going to do now?"

"I think there's only one thing we can do," Gobo said, "and that's to see the Trash Heap! You guys stay here and keep an eye on Wembley. Come on, Lou!"

"Right," Lou said.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Red shouted. "How come she gets to go with you?"

"I can't explain it now, Red," Gobo said. "There's not a second to spare!"

And with that, Gobo and Lou raced down the tunnel that led to the Gorgs' garden. Red watched them go, and growled.

"He gets to have all the fun," she said.

"Never mind that now, Red," Mokey said. "Just help us get Wembley back to his and Gobo's cave, all right?"

"Oh, all right," Red sighed. She picked up Wembley's legs, while Mokey and Boober positioned his arms over their shoulders, and the three of them carried him to his and Gobo's room.


	4. Return to Fraggledonia

Gobo and Lou nervously wandered to the Fraggles' source of wisdom and advice, Marjory the Trash Heap. She wasn't up at this time, but at least her two rat-like shills, Philo and Gunge, were.

"Look alive, Marjory!" Philo shouted.

"Yeah, we've got Fraggles here," Gunge said

"You are in the presence of!" both Philo and Gunge shouted at the same time.

"The _all_ seeing . . . ." Philo said.

" _All_ knowing . . . ." Gunge said.

"Trash Heap! Nyeah!" they both shouted in unison.

After that, Marjory rose out of her pile of trash, held up her lorgnette, and looked at Gobo and Lou.

"Hello there, little Fraggles," she said. "Oh, I see we have a royal guest with us today."

"We do?" Philo asked.

"Really? Where?" Gunge asked.

"Right here, boys," Marjory said. "Lou Fraggle, the princess of Fraggledonia of course!"

"Wait a minute!" Lou shouted. "How did you know that?"

"I'm not an oracle for nothing, you know," Marjory said. "Now then, princess, what can I do for you and your friend there?"

"We've got a _big_ problem, Madam Heap!" Gobo shouted. "It's our friend, Wembley. He's fallen asleep, and we can't wake him up!"

"Did you try shaking him?" Marjory asked.

"Yes," Gobo said.

"How about screaming in his ear?" Gunge asked.

"Yes," Lou said.

"How about throwing cold water on him?" Philo asked.

"Well, we threw him in the pond," Gobo said. "Kinda the same thing, though."

"We even tried throwing a Bleach Nut at him," Lou said.

"Eeewww, Bleach Nuts!" Gunge grimaced.

"That'll wake up _any_ body!" Philo shouted.

"Yeah we know," Gobo said. "But not even the Bleach Nut woke him up!"

"Boy, this must be serious!" Gunge shouted.

"Hmmm . . . ." Marjory said, thoughtfully. "Very strange. Usually, the Bleach Nut method of waking someone up never fails. Unless . . . ."

"Unless what?" Lou asked.

"Have either of you been having strange dreams lately?" Marjory asked.

"Yeah, now that you mention it," Gobo said. "Both of us have. And the strange thing is, both of our dreams were similar."

"Tell me about these dreams," Marjory said.

"Okay," Gobo said. "See, in my dream, Wembley and I are exploring the Fraggledonian castle, looking for secret passages, and this Silly Creature shows up, and she's carrying this crystal ball. Suddenly, we hear this strange music, and Wembley falls asleep, and I can't get him to wake up. Then the Silly Creature laughs, and waves her hand over her crystal ball, and there's a flash of light, and Wembley's gone. I see him in the Silly Creature's crystal ball, and then she vanishes."

"I see," Marjory said. Then she turned to Lou. "And in your dream?"

"Pretty much the same thing," Lou said. "Except in mine, she didn't send Wembley inside her crystal ball. She just picked him up, and disappeared. We even shared the dream, and the same thing happened."

"Have any other Fraggles had a dream with this Silly Creature in it?" Marjory asked.

"Not that I know of," Gobo said.

"Yeah, we never asked," Lou said.

"Mm hmmm," Marjory said, nodding. "Describe this Silly Creature for me."

"Well, she's taller than the both of us," Gobo said. "And she had short dark hair, and she was wearing all red. And like I said, she was carrying a crystal ball."

"That's what I thought," Marjory said. "I know who you Fraggles are talking about. This Silly Creature is not a Silly Creature. She's a Fairy. Her name is Lilith, and she is the Fairy Queen of Dreams. She has the power to control the dreams of anyone she wishes, and she can make anyone's most fondest dream into a reality, though it comes at a very high price. She also knows a thing or two about sleeping spells. And this sleep your little friend is in is obviously one of her sleeping spells."

"But how did she even get to Fraggle Rock?" Lou asked.

"Especially without someone seeing her?" Gobo asked. "Silly Creatures can't fit in those tunnels! Well, not to get inside, anyway."

"She doesn't need to," Marjory said. "She can cast her spells on anyone she pleases from the Fairy Realm without having to leave it."

"Sounds serious!" Gunge shouted.

"Yeah, _really_ serious!" Philo agreed.

"What can we do about it, Madam Heap?" Lou asked.

"You must go to the Fairy Realm," Marjory said. "You should be able to find the answers there."

"But where is the Fairy Realm, and how do we get there?" Gobo asked.

"You must travel to Fraggledonia," Marjory said. "There's a path there that leads right to it, behind a set of gates."

"Right!" Gobo shouted. "Come on, Lou! We'd better get Red and Mokey and Boober and head to Fraggledonia right away!"

"I'm afraid you can't do that, little Fraggle," Marjory said. "Not unless they had the dream, too. Only those who have had the dream can venture into the Fairy Realm. You two have been chosen by an unknown force. I can't really explain why, because I'm not sure what it is."

"Red's not going to like that one bit," Gobo said.

"I'm sorry, little Fraggles, but that's the way it is," Marjory said, shrugging. "Only the two of you may go on this trip. And you had best hurry. I don't know why Lilith would put that sleeping spell on your friend, but no good can come from it, believe me! She's very, _very_ tricky! I will have your boat waiting at the docks for you, if you don't mind steering it yourself. And don't worry, I'll try to help you whenever, and however I can. Now go! Get out of here! Hurry and get to Fraggledonia before it's too late!"

"The Trash Heap has spoken!" Philo and Gunge shouted. "Nyeah!"

Immediately, Gobo and Lou ran back to Fraggle Rock. They had to pack some supplies for the trip, and let Mokey, Red, and Boober know they had to go to Fraggledonia, except they didn't necessarily want to tell them why, and what was going on.

"Did the Trash Heap have any advice?" Mokey asked, when they returned to Gobo's cave.

"Yeah, but we have to go to Fraggledonia," Gobo said.

"Oh no," Boober groaned. "I always get seasick when we go there! Couldn't I stay here, just this once?"

"Yes," Gobo said. "Only Lou and I are going to make the trip. The rest of you stay here and take care of Wembley. Make sure he's okay."

"Wait a minute!" Red shouted. "How come you're going all the way to Fraggledonia with Lou and leaving the rest of us here?!"

"We can't really explain all of the details, Red," Lou said. "Not right now, anyway. All we can tell you is that Wembley's under a sleeping spell, and only Gobo and I can break it."

"Can't you just climb up there and kiss him?" Red asked. "That always works in the Storyteller's stories."

"That's not gonna work," Gobo said. "Lou and I have to go to Fraggledonia to break this spell, and the rest of you can't come."

"That doesn't seem fair," Red said. "Why can't the rest of us go?!"

"You have any weird dreams about Wembley being placed under a sleeping spell by a Silly Creature wearing red?" Gobo asked.

"No," Red said, a little confused.

"That's why!" Gobo shouted. "Come on, Lou! We've got to hurry!"

With that, Gobo and Lou left Fraggle Rock, though Red wasn't happy about it at all.

"I don't get why he's getting so chummy with Lou all of a sudden," she grumbled.

"Don't worry about it, Red," Mokey said. "They probably can't tell us any more because they're in a hurry."

"Yeah, it's not as if they've got some kind of steamy affair going that they don't want us to know about," Boober said. "And they're running away to Fraggledonia to get secretly married and they won't come back because they won't have the guts to face you or Wembley again, Red."

Mokey glared at Boober, and Red not only glared at him, she growled at him.

"What?" Boober asked, obliviously. Red grabbed the pillow off Gobo's bed, and began pounding the blue Fraggle with it as hard as he could.

"What'd I say?! What'd I say?!" Boober shouted.

Mokey sighed, and took the pillow away from Red. She had a feeling she was going to have her hands full keeping Red under control.

"Wonder how _she'd_ like it if I tried to steal _her_ boyfriend?" Red said.

"Oh, Red, really!" Mokey shouted. "I'm ashamed of you for even _think_ ing about something like that!"

Red just grumbled. Mokey and Boober had a feeling she'd be in a mood like this all day, so they decided to leave her to sulk while they watched over Wembley.

Meanwhile, Gobo and Lou ran past the Gorgs' castle and down to the docks. As promised, there was a boat there. The two Fraggles boarded, and cast off.

"I'll do the steering," Lou said. "After all, I've been to Fraggledonia more than you have."

"Right," Gobo said. "Incidentally, how long is this trip going to take?"

"If we get lucky, we'll be docking in Fraggledonia right before sunset. Provided we don't have any trouble from the bananacudas, but according to the goblins, the bananacudas have all migrated out of here for the time being."

Gobo nodded. Bananacudas were were the last thing on his mind right now. He kept wondering what this Lilith fairy, or whatever she was, wanted with Wembley in the first place. He was also afraid Lilith would somehow show up in Fraggle Rock to take Wembley, and then put Red, Mokey, and Boober under the same spell so they wouldn't stop her.

Gobo was so lost in thought over the whole thing, he didn't even notice when Lou stopped the boat.

"We're here," she said, dropping the anchor. "Come on."

"Where is everybody?" Gobo asked.

"Probably in the village. They don't know we're coming. Usually, when they know I'm coming, there's a reception committee here. Come on, let's get to the castle first, and let the goblins know I'm back."

"They're sure gonna be surprised to see you back so soon! You only left here two days ago!"

Lou nodded, and laughed at that. She and Gobo then immediately went to the castle, but on their way, they noticed something very strange. Fraggledonia was a little too quiet. The streets of the village were empty.

"This is weird," Lou said. "There are usually Fraggles all over the place at this time of day!"

"Maybe they decided to take the day off or something," Gobo said.

Lou shrugged, and continued on to the castle. When they got there, they found the drawbridge was open, which was definitely not normal. The two Fraggles ran across it, and found a goblin standing by the mechanism that opened and closed the drawbridge, but he was fast asleep.

"Hey, buddy, wake up!" Lou shouted. "How come the drawbridge is opened?"

"What's the matter, big fella?" Gobo asked. Then he began shouting right into the goblin's ear. "Can't you hear us?!"

The goblin responded by falling flat on his face to the floor.

 _THUD!_

Gobo and Lou just stared at him. Then they looked at each other and realized that the goblin was under the same sleeping spell as Wembley was. Immediately, they ran inside the castle, and checked all of the rooms for the rest of the goblins. All of them were fast asleep.

"I wonder if Lilith has been here?" Gobo asked. "And if she has, why would she bother putting an entire castle to sleep? You think she was testing out the spell before casting it on Wembley?"

"I doubt it," Lou said. "You had that weird dream the night before I came home. But that doesn't mean anything, either."

"I'm also worrying about the rest of the dream. The part where Lilith kidnaps Wembley. What could she want him for?"

"I don't know, and I don't want to think about that!"

Gobo happened to agree with Lou, and they continued to search the castle for signs of life, but everyone inside of the castle was asleep. By the time night fell, both Fraggles were exhausted.

"Maybe we should look for answers tomorrow morning," Gobo said. "I'm beat."

"Me too," Lou said. "Would you mind if I spent the night in your room, Gobo? I'm kind of afraid to be alone."

"Sure," Gobo said, as he and Lou walked into the bedroom Gobo usually used when visited Fraggledonia and stayed overnight. "You take the bed, and I'll take the floor. After all, it wouldn't do for a princess to sleep on the floor. That's the job of the royal herald. Or in my case, the royal Gobo, since Harold's somewhere getting some sleep."

Lou grabbed a pillow off the bed, and hurled it at Gobo for the "Herald/Harold" joke. She also threw him an extra blanket, and crawled into the bed. Gobo yawned, made himself comfortable on the rug on the floor. Then the two of them went to sleep.


	5. Getting Out of the Castle

When Gobo and Lou woke up the next morning, they found themselves locked in the bedroom, and the door was frozen in a sheet of ice.

"Oh no!" Lou shouted.

"Looks like the Trash Heap was right about Lilith," Gobo said. "Good thing this room has a fire place!"

Gobo took a match from the mantle, lit it, and threw it into the fire place. A roaring fire quickly filled it, and the heat melted the ice from the door.

"Come on!" Gobo shouted.

Gobo and Lou left the room, and ran into the hallway. Across the hall was the door to the room Wembley used whenever he accompanied Lou to Fraggledonia. Gobo tried to open it, but it was locked. The hallway also featured a stained glass window on the ceiling, with six different animal patterns. While Gobo was trying to open the bedroom door, Lou looked up at the ceiling, and the animal panels had disappeared right before her eyes.

"Gobo, look!" she shouted. "The animal patterns have disappeared!"

"Yeah, and the door to Wembley's room is locked, too," Gobo said. "Which is weird, because you don't usually keep these doors locked! Do the goblins lock them?"

"No. What do we do now?"

"Well . . . ."

Gobo looked around the room, and saw a lizard figure next to the spiral staircase that led to this particular floor of the castle. He also found a frog and a butterfly as well. He looked up at the ceiling window, and saw a lizard, frog, and butterfly outline, along with a fish, bird, and cat outline as well. Acting on a hunch, he picked up the lizard, and it turned into a pane of glass.

"Ah ha!" he shouted. "I have it! Look for the figures that match the outlines on the window! If we fix the window, maybe the door to Wembley's room will open!"

"Great idea!" Lou shouted, and she looked around the hallway. She quickly found the bird, the fish, and the cat pieces, as Gobo collected the butterfly and the frog.

Once all six pieces were collected, Gobo pushed a table to the staircase, and climbed up so he could reach the window. Once he placed the panes in place, a click was heard. Lou turned the knob on the bedroom door, and it opened. Gobo jumped off the table, and he and Lou ran inside the room.

"We need a lantern or something," Gobo said. "It's so dark in here, I can't see my nose in front of my face."

"Don't you remember?" Lou asked. "The goblins said this place is wired with electricity. Whatever that is! We have to use a switch to turn on the lights."

"I don't think that concept will ever catch on," Gobo said, feeling around the room. Finally, he felt something, and flipped it. The lights immediately came on in the room.

"That's better," he said, looking around the room.

The room featured a bed, a bookshelf, and a chest. There were several toys scattered around the room, including a ball, a couple of wooden puppets, some stuffed toys, and a doll house. Gobo knew Red and Mokey enjoyed playing with that, but they kept it in Wembley's room at the castle, because Wembley actually liked playing with it with Red and Mokey. On the other side of the room was a door that led to a balcony. Gobo tried it, but it wouldn't open.

"Rats!" he shouted. "What do we do now?"

"Listen to me, little Fraggles!" a familiar voice called out.

"What was that?" Lou asked.

"It sounded like the Trash Heap," Gobo said. "Madam Trash Heap, is that you? Where are you?"

"I'm still in the Gorgs' garden," the voice of the Trash Heap said. "But don't worry, I can help you! The little house holds the key!"

"That must mean the key to the balcony door is in the doll house," Gobo said. He ran to the little toy house and tried to open it, but it was stuck.

"Either Red or Mokey, or even Wembley must have locked it the last time they were here," Gobo said. "And I don't know where they keep the key!"

"They keep it in the trunk," Lou said, walking over to the chest on the other side of the room. She tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge.

"Oh, rock beetles, it's locked too!" she shouted.

"Wait a minute," Gobo said, looking over at the bed. In the center of the bed's footboard was something that looked like a key. He grabbed it, ran over to the chest, and stuck it in the lock.

"Ah ha!" he shouted, as the chest opened. He dug through it, and began pulling things out of it, until he found a tiny key.

"This has to be it!" he shouted. He ran over to the doll house, stuck the key in the tiny lock and turned it. The doll house opened without any trouble.

"You did it!" Lou shouted.

"Yeah, but there aren't any keys in it," Gobo said. "And why are the rooms so dark? I've seen Red, Mokey, and Wembley play with this thing, and the rooms aren't this dark!"

"There are a couple of switches that control the lights," Lou explained. "The goblins said there's a glitch in it that needs to be fixed, but they haven't gotten around to doing it yet. If you flip the switches, some of the lights come on, and if you flip some of the other switches, the lights will come on in the other rooms, but the lights in the other rooms will turn off. I've seen Red, Mokey, and Wembley fiddle with it before, and eventually, they're able to turn the lights on in all of the rooms, but it's a pain in the neck, which is why the goblins have to fix it."

"What?"

"Here, I'll show you."

Lou flipped the first switch, and the lights came on in four of the rooms. When she flipped the second switch, four more rooms were illuminated. When she flipped the third switch, The lights first two rooms and the last two rooms went out. When she flipped the fourth switch, two rooms in the middle row darkened, and the rooms right below it illuminated. Flipping the fifth switch caused those to rooms to darken, and the two rooms next to them to light up. When Lou flipped the sixth and last switch, all the lights went out entirely.

"Red, Mokey, and Wembley have a method to this to keep the lights on, which is why the goblins haven't bothered to have this fixed," she said, shrugging. "Hang on a minute, I'm not sure how they do this."

Lou began playing around with the switches, flipping them back and forth, trying different combinations, until finally, all of the rooms' lights came on. Once they were all on, a key appeared in one of the rooms.

"I had a feeling that would do it," Lou said, taking the key. She ran to the balcony door, unlocked it, and ran outside, with Gobo right behind her.

The balcony led to the bedroom Red used when she visited Fraggledonia. There was also a treehouse the goblins had built for the Fraggles to play in. There were chalk drawings Mokey made of six Fraggles on the front and sides of it (Wembley and Lou on the front, Gobo and Red on the left wall, and Boober and Mokey on the right wall), and a group of rocks on the door that spelled out "FRTH" (for "Fraggle Rock Tree House"). A bridge had been built to access the treehouse, but it had mysteriously been broken. Gobo decided to try to open the door to Red's room first.

"Gobo, wait a minute!" Lou shouted. "Don't you remember? Red always keeps that door locked on the inside. No matter what we do, we'll never get it open."

"Yeah, and I don't want to bash in the windows, either," Gobo said. "After all, Mokey designed the castle windows last time all of us were here, and she'd kill us if we broke them!"

"We're going to have to go down through the treehouse and get in through the library."

"Yeah, but the bridge is broken!"

Luckily for the two Fraggles, there were boards scattered about the balcony. Gobo picked one up, but he found it was too long to use.

"See if you can find a saw and some rope, Lou," he said.

"Right," Lou said, and she began searching around. "Boy, the goblins sure are sloppy. They left the saw and the rope right here."

"Lucky thing for us," Gobo said, taking the saw and cutting the boards. "Or maybe the Trash Heap's helping us."

"Could be. I don't know her as well as you, Red, Boober, Mokey, and Wembley do."

Gobo nodded, and cut the rest of the boards, and Lou tied them together. Then they both attached them to the bridge, and crossed over to the door. But once they reached the door, the chalk drawing of Wembley's body became uncolored.

"That's weird," Lou said. "Wembley's shirt and his hair are still colored in, but the rest of him isn't."

"Well, here's a piece of chalk," Gobo said, picking up a piece of chalk from the floor. "Only it's yellow."

"And here's a blue one," Lou said. "Maybe we could combine them to make green."

"No need," Gobo said. "I found the green piece. Stand back."

Gobo took the green chalk, and began coloring Wembley's drawing back in. But the minute he finished, Red's drawing lost it's color. Gobo sighed, and used the yellow chalk to color it back in. When he was finished with that, the drawing of Boober lost it's color.

"This is getting ridiculous," he muttered, as Lou handed him the blue chalk, and he returned Boober's drawing to it's original state.

"Now maybe we can get in," Lou said, as she tried to open the door to the treehouse. When she did, some of the stones on the door disappeared.

"Oh brother!" she shouted. She decided to forget about it, and open the door anyway, but it wouldn't budge.

"Great," Gobo said, sarcastically. "We're gonna have to fix this. Come on."

Gobo and Lou began picking up the stones, which (luckily for them) had been scattered on the balcony, or around the treehouse. Once they put them back in place, the door opened. Immediately, they ran inside.

"Oh good!" Gobo shouted. "The trap door's open!"

"Finally, some good luck for a change!" Lou shouted.

The two Fraggles raced to the trap door, but the minute they reached it, it closed, nearly taking Gobo's fingers off in the process.

"Yikes!" he shouted.

"Uh oh," Lou said, as she noticed a hinge suddenly appearing on the door, and screwing it shut.

"And that's not all," Gobo said. "Look at that!"

Lou looked, and saw a wagon wheeling itself over the trap door, covering it. If that weren't enough, two of the wheels came off of it, making it impossible to move.

"Lilith strikes again," Gobo sighed. "Come on, we'd better look for the wheels."

Lou nodded, and she and Gobo searched the treehouse. They found the wheels quickly, and attached them to the wagon, but when they tried to move the wagon, the wheels fell off and wouldn't stay on.

"Now what do we do?" Lou asked.

"I think Uncle Traveling Matt saw one of these before," Gobo said. "He said in order for the wheel to stay on, you need something called a washer, and a nut."

Gobo looked around the room, and found two small metal discs, and two small, metal hexagonal shapes.

"I think these are it," he said. "Let me try and see if they work."

Gobo stuck the wheels back on the wagon, and added the two washers and nuts as well. He tried to move the wagon again, and this time, the wheels staid on, but the wagon still wouldn't move. He studied it for a minute, and then realized what the problem was.

"The wheels are rusty," he said, spying an oil can nearby. "A little oil should do the trick."

Gobo took the oil can, and poured it's contents onto the wheels. Lou picked up the wagon's handle, and pulled it aside. Gobo then found a screwdriver, and began unscrewing the hinge. Once he removed it, he tried to open the trap door, but it was still stuck.

"Think something heavy would smash it open?" Lou asked.

"Yeah, but what can we use that's heavy?" Gobo asked. "Other than the wagon, that is. That's too heavy for us to lift, even if we try to lift it together."

"Red's hobby horse," Lou said, picking up a wooden stick horse, which was pretty heavy. "Last time she was here, she said it was too heavy for her, but we went back home before she had a chance to get another one."

"What have we got to lose? Go for it."

Lou swung the stick horse like a sledgehammer, and the boards to the trap door broke off completely. Gobo wasn't too surprised at Lou managing to lift a heavy hobby horse like that. After all, she had been known to hurl heavy rocks clear across the Great Hall.

"Remind me to ask the goblins to fix that," Lou said, as she threw the stick horse aside. "Or else Boober will have about a dozen fits and lecture us on treehouse safety."

"Check," Gobo said, and he began climbing down the treehouse ladder. "Come on, there's not a moment to lose!"


	6. The Library and the Music Room

When Gobo and Lou reached the bottom of the ladder, they found themselves in part of the castle's garden. Gobo ran to the door that led to the library, but the door was locked.

"Oh great," he sighed. "Where's the key?"

"I don't know," Lou said, shrugging. "The goblins never gave me the keys, remember?"

Gobo sighed, and looked around the yard for it, until he saw what appeared to be a little dog house (even though Gobo had no idea what a dog was). A baby Burrow Beast was sleeping inside of it. There were also several small mounds of dirt all over the yard, as if someone had been digging holes, and filling them up.

"Oh no," Lou sighed. "I forgot all about Wiggly!"

"Wiggly?" Gobo asked.

"The baby Burrow Beast I told you about, remember? The goblins warned me this might happen!"

"What would happen?"

"Well, you know how Burrow Beasts dig, and Wiggly might have gotten his claws on the key . . . ."

"Don't say anymore. I get the idea. Wiggly buried the key."

"We'd better get started digging for it. I doubt Wiggly's going to be any help, if he's under the same sleeping spell as Wembley and the goblins!"

Gobo found a shovel, and immediately began digging up the garden. Lou looked around as well, until she found a pair of scissors, a bucket, and what looked like a crank.

"This is really weird," she said.

"Well, I found the key," Gobo said. "Looks like Wiggly definitely got to it! It's covered with dirt, and I can't get it all off. We'll need some water to do that."

Gobo walked over to the well in the garden, but found that it was missing some pieces.

"Don't those goblins ever fix anything around here?" he asked.

"They take very good care of the place normally," Lou said. "I think a lot of this has to do with Lilith. At least I know what to do with the bucket and the crank I found. Now all we need is some rope. Here Gobo, take the scissors and cut the ladder from the treehouse. We can fix it later."

"You're the princess."

Gobo took the scissors, and walked over to the treehouse ladder. He cut the rope, and brought it back to Lou. She tied one end to the bucket, and the other end to the bar. Then she tossed the bucket into the well, and used the crank to pull it back up. Gobo took the bucket, threw the key into it, and began washing the dirt off of it. Then he pulled it out, took off his neckerchief, and dried it off.

"Onward to the library!" he shouted.

Gobo and Lou ran to the door, unlocked it, and walked into the library. The minute they stepped inside, several books flew off the shelf and onto the floor.

"Little Fraggles!" the voice of the Trash Heap called out. "You must recover the large book to proceed!"

"What does that mean?" Lou asked.

"Beats me," Gobo said, shrugging. "Maybe if we put the books away first, we'll get an idea."

Lou nodded, and she and Gobo began gathering up the books on the floor, and returning them to their appropriate shelves. Nothing happened once the books were in their proper places.

"Now what do we do, Madam Heap?" Gobo called out.

"Look carefully, Fraggles," the voice of the Trash Heap said. "There's a new book in the room!"

"How often do you come in here, Lou?" Gobo asked.

"Not often," Lou said, running her finger along one of the shelves. "And judging by the dust on these shelves, reading isn't one of the goblins' strong suits, either."

"Ah ha, that's it!" Gobo shouted. "Look for a book that _isn't_ covered in dust!"

Immediately, Gobo and Lou began searching the shelves, until Gobo came across a section about magic. There was a book that wasn't covered in layers of dust.

"Resonating Crystals," he said, reading the cover. "A Study of Their Magical Properties. This must be it. I can feel it pulsating."

"Put it down on the floor here," Lou said. "I can feel it vibrating."

Immediately, Gobo put the book down on the spot Lou indicated, and opened it, only to find a hole inside of it.

"A hollow book," he said. "What a great place to hide something! Like a crystal."

"But where are we going to find a crystal to put in it?" Lou asked.

"Maybe it's in one of these drawers," Gobo said, and he began pulling on the drawer handles below the book cases. None of them would open.

"Darn it, they're stuck," he grumbled.

"Wait a minute," Lou said, looking toward the top of one of the bookcases. Then she began climbing it. "There's something missing, and I think it's up on the shelf."

"What's missing?"

"A big, blue ball with weird shapes on it. The goblins told me it's a globe of the Earth. I don't have any idea what that means, but there's one that's supposed to be on that shelf over there."

Lou picked up the globe, and jumped to the next bookcase, since the spot for the globe was on the top shelf of it, anyway. She put it in place, and one of the drawers opened magically. Gobo ran to look inside of it, and pulled out a crystal. Then he put it inside of the book, and it started glowing. Once he took it out, the book vanished.

"Now what do we do?" he asked.

"Throw it up here!" Lou shouted, jumping to the next bookcase, where a crystal ball sat on the top shelf. "Something's vibrating here!"

Gobo shrugged, and threw the crystal to the lavender Fraggle. Once she touched the crystal to the crystal ball, one of the bookshelves began moving, and it revealed a hidden door.

"Wow," Gobo said. "I wonder if the goblins knew about a secret room in here?"

"Probably not," Lou said. "They would have told me. They've told me everything else about this castle. I wonder if this has to do with your dream, Gobo? Since you and Wembley were exploring the castle for secret passages?"

"Hmm. You know, you might be right. Let's go check it out. Maybe we can find something in here that will help us wake up Wembley and the goblins."

"And anybody else who might be under this sleeping spell."

The two Fraggles went through the secret passage. It was so dark, Gobo had to use the crystal as a flashlight.

"There are eight symbol cards hidden in this room, my Fraggle friends," Marjory's voice said from out of nowhere. "You must place them on the wall."

"Where on the wall?" Gobo asked, as Lou took the crystal began looking around the room.

"You'll see," Marjory's voice said, and then disappeared.

"That doesn't help much," Gobo said, sounding a little frustrated.

"She _did_ tell us before we left that she could help us when she could," Lou said, as she pulled a card out from a book. "She didn't say she'd solve these puzzles for us."

Gobo sighed, and began to help Lou search. Together, they found cards with three squiggly lines on it, the letter X, a plus sign, a crescent moon, a circle, two arrows, and the female sign on them. Then they began looking on the walls, trying to figure out where the cards were supposed to go, when Gobo spied a knothole in the shelf.

"Hmm," he said. "I wonder if we'd be able to see anything if I push out this knothole?"

Gobo pressed the knothole, but it wouldn't move. Instead, he and Lou heard a strange sound, and something lit up on the wall. On it were glowing figures, including arrows, a square, a circle with a dot inside it, the minus sign, two vertical lines, the male sign, and three squiggly lines, only they were vertical instead of horizontal.

"I think this is where we put the cards," Gobo said.

"How do we know which one goes where?" Lou asked.

"We'll fake it," Gobo said, and he began placing cards. Lou shrugged, and waited until Gobo was finished. Finally, when he got all the cards in their proper places, the wall opened up.

"This leads to the music room," he said. "Let's go!"

Gobo raced out the door, and Lou followed closely behind him. When they were inside, Gobo tried to open the door that lead to another part of the garden, but it was stuck. Lou looked over at the walls, where there used to be pictures hanging, but now they were scattered all over the floor, and behind a piano. The cover was closed, and locked.

"I know the goblins keep the key to this thing somewhere," she said. "And I know there's supposed to be a crank to this piano."

"This is no time for music, Lou!" Gobo shouted.

"I know that, Gobo, but I have a feeling about this. Help me find the pictures that are supposed to go on the wall!"

Gobo sighed, and he and Lou gathered up the pictures, and hung them back up. The minute they got them back up, the images disappeared.

"That's strange," Gobo said.

"I know," Lou said, picking up the piano crank. "I think the goblins' piano might help, but I don't know where the key is to unlock it."

Lou placed the crank onto the piano, and suddenly, a crowbar appeared from out of nowhere. Gobo grabbed it, and pondered what to do with it, until he stepped on a loose floorboard. Acting on a hunch, Gobo stuck the crowbar underneath the board, and pried it up, revealing a key underneath it.

"Hey, Lou!" he shouted. "I think I found the key to unlock the piano!"

Gobo ran to the piano and unlocked it, while Lou began adjusting the pictures on the wall. As soon as she touched one of the frames, a tune began playing on the piano. Gobo repeated the tune, and the picture's image suddenly reappeared.

"I think I've got it!" he shouted. "Each picture will show up again if I repeat the tune the piano plays that corresponds with each picture!"

"What?" Lou asked, a little confused.

"Never mind, just touch another frame."

Lou shrugged, and adjusted another picture. Gobo turned the crank on the piano, and repeated the tune, and the image reappeared. The two of them kept this up five more times until all the images reappeared in their frames, and the door automatically unlocked. The two Fraggles opened the door, and ran out into another part of the garden.


	7. Meet Herbert

The part of the garden outside the music room was one of Mokey's favorite parts of the castle. There were stone tiles on the ground in the shape of flowers, and a greenhouse where Mokey kept Lanford whenever she brought him to Fraggledonia. Mokey had told her friends that he had made friends with several plants that could talk, but none of them really believed her.

"This is where Wembley and I were in my dream," Lou said. "We were here playing with Wiggly before Lilith appeared.

"At least we know we're going in the right direction," Gobo said.

When the two Fraggles walked into the garden, the entire path disappeared, colored tiles and all. The only thing left was dirt.

"Here we go again," Gobo sighed.

"Fraggles!" Marjory's voice called out. "You must enter the greenhouse next!"

Lou ran to the greenhouse, and tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Of course," she groaned. "How are we going to get in there now?"

"Don't worry, little princess," Marjory said. "You have to put the stone tiles back the way they were. I can not do it for you, unfortunately. The best I can do is restore one tile, and then bring back the others. Better watch your heads."

Gobo and Lou stood back, and the ground began shaking. A circular yellow tile appeared in it's proper place, but the rest of the stone tiles fell from the sky, and landed in various places around the garden.

"Ooh, sorry about that," Marjory said. "My aim was a little off."

"That's okay, Madam Heap!" Gobo shouted. "Thanks! Wherever you are!"

"We'd better gather up the tiles and figure out where they go," Lou said.

"Lilith was smart with this spell," Gobo said. "She didn't leave us any clue to where the rest of the tiles are supposed to go."

Gobo picked up a red flower tile, and walked across the yellow tile the Trash Heap had returned. The minute he stepped on it, a faint image of the path appeared, showing the missing tiles, and then disappeared almost immediately. Gobo stepped off the circle, and then stood on it again. The path image appeared, and then disappeared.

"I think I've got it!" he shouted. "Once we gather up the tiles, Lou, start jumping on this yellow stone, and I'll put the tiles back in place!"

"Okay, I guess," Lou said, shrugging, and she and Gobo got to work gathering all the tiles. Once they gathered all the tiles, Lou ran to the yellow circle and began jumping up and down on it, allowing the path to appear and disappear enough times for Gobo to replace the tiles. Once they were back in place, the path returned to normal, and the green house unlocked.

"Whew!" Lou shouted, feeling a little out of breath. " _That's_ a relief!"

"Come on, we'd better keep going," Gobo said.

Lou nodded, and followed the orange Fraggle into the greenhouse. Plants were scattered all over the place. While Gobo was wondering what to do next, Lou leaned against one of the counters. All that jumping made her a little tired, and she wanted to rest. But the minute she leaned on the counter, she jumped back up.

"Gobo!" she shouted. "This spot is vibrating!"

"Something special must go there," Gobo said. "But what?"

The two Fraggles looked around the greenhouse, and Gobo spied what looked like a carnivorous plant by the door, and it was snoring. When he got close to it, he could feel it vibrating. He picked it up, handed it to Lou, and she put it on the vibrating spot on the counter. Once they did, the plant woke up and yawned. He stared at Gobo and Lou, oddly.

"You're not my usual gardener!" he shouted. "And you're not Miss Mokey, either! Who are you?"

"Yikes, a talking plant!" Lou shouted, jumping backwards.

"We were told to come here by our oracle," Gobo said. "She's a trash heap."

"I see," the plant said. "But that doesn't explain what you are going to achieve in here."

"We're really not sure ourselves," Lou said. "Gobo and I both had a strange dream about our friend, Wembley. Yesterday, we found him asleep in one of the tunnels in Fraggle Rock, and nobody could wake him up. And the Trash Heap said he was under a sleeping spell. She said someone named Lilith cast it over him, and she said we had to come here to Fraggledonia to find the answers, and when we got here, my Goblin Guards were all fast asleep, under the same sleeping spell, and . . . ."

"Your Goblin Guards?" the plant repeated. "Wait a minute. Are you Louise Fraggle?"

"Yes, but my friends call me Lou," Lou said. The plant then bowed his head as low as he possibly could.

"Forgive me for my rudeness, princess," he said. "I did not realize who you were."

"Well, I don't come in here when I'm in town," Lou said, shrugging.

"Yeah, I think only Mokey does," Gobo said. "My name's Gobo, by the way."

"Yes, Miss Mokey has told me all about you and her other friends, Mr. Gobo," the plant said. "And any friend of Miss Mokey and Lanford are friends of mine. My name is Herbert. Would you and Mr. Gobo do me a favor, princess? I will help you in any way I can if you do."

"Sure," Lou said. "What can we do for you?"

"My friends are scattered all over the place," Herbert said. "Some are where they belong, and the others aren't. Would you be so kind as to put them in their proper places? The plants in the red pots go on the counter directly across from me, plants in the gold pots go below them, and the plants in the blue pots go below my counter."

Immediately, Gobo and Lou collected the pots, and placed them as Herbert indicated.

"Thank you," Herbert said. "Now, I have something to tell you, and don't forget it. The moon is always first."

"Thank you," Lou said. "But what does that mean?"

"You'll find out when the time is right," Herbert said. "Incidentally, did Miss Mokey come with you?"

"No, she's back in Fraggle Rock," Gobo said. "She had to stay with Wembley and look after him."

"Oh dear," Herbert sighed. "If she's not here, and all of the goblins are under a sleeping spell, then it might take who knows how long before my regular gardener gets here, and I don't think my friends can wait that long without being watered!"

"I see what you mean," Lou said, looking at some of the plants. "Some of them are beginning to dry out and wilt. Would you like us to water them, Herbert?"

"Would you, please?" Herbert asked. "I'd be eternally grateful to you, princess. I'll open the door for you when you're done."

Lou picked up a watering can, and began watering the plants. The ones that looked like they were on their last legs sprang to life, and their leaves changed from dull brown to bright green.

"Thank you, princess," Herbert said, as he opened the door. "Good luck to you and Mr. Gobo. Please say hello to Lanford and Miss Mokey for me when you return to Fraggle Rock."

"Don't worry, we will," Gobo said. "Thanks, Herbert! Bye!"

Gobo and Lou waved to Herbert, as they left the greenhouse. The door led to the castle courtyard, where a statue of a Fraggle stood. It bore a bit of a likeness to Lou, except the statue was wearing an ankle-length dress, her hair was in a bun, there was a tiara at the top of her head, and she was holding a round object in one hand. Underneath the statue, there was a stone that read "Princess Louise Fraggle: Our Founder and Savior."

"Where did this come from?" Gobo asked. "It wasn't here the last time I was here!"

"The Fraggledonian Fraggles commissioned it," Lou said. "It wasn't my idea, but they wanted to do something to thank me for freeing them from Narcissa. I gotta tell ya, it was such a pain in the neck posing for that thing!"

"What's that you're holding?"

"The Rainbow Amulet. Come on, Gobo, let's go! I can explain about the statue later!"

Gobo nodded, and followed Lou to the wrought iron gate that would lead them into town. Once they touched the gate, they heard a strange noise, and the statue disappeared. The gate slammed shut, and locked.

"Now what?" Gobo asked.

"I guess we find the pieces of the statue and put it together," Lou said. "That'll probably unlock the gate."

Gobo nodded, and he and Lou began to look for the pieces of the statue. They found nine pieces all together: two feet, a skirt, a torso, two arms, a head, a tiara, and the amulet.

"I'm just glad the pieces aren't broken into millions of smaller pieces," Gobo said, setting the two feet in place, followed by the skirt. "Then we'd really be in trouble!"

Gobo worked his way up, until he finally put the tiara on the statue. Once it was in place, the gate opened. Gobo jumped off the statue, and followed Lou through it. He was curious to see the town. He and the others usually stayed at the castle whenever they visited. Not one of them had seen the actual town. Since Lou had been to Fraggledonia more often than he had, he let her take the lead, since she knew where she was going. Before they could reach the town, they had to go through another gate, which was locked.

"Of course," Gobo groaned. Then he saw a large red and gold wooden structure in the yard.

"Hey, what's this thing?" he asked, knocking on the door.

"A puppet theater," Lou said. "The Fraggledonians usually close the gate when they hold the puppet shows so the audience doesn't block the main street. And wouldn't you know it, the gate's locked!"

"How come this theater won't open?" Gobo asked, trying to open the theater.

"Because the masks are missing," Lou said, pointing to the bottom of the theater, where there were two triangular shaped indents. "Lilith is probably behind this."

"You think?" Gobo said, sarcastically. "Come on, we'd better look for the masks. Maybe if we fix this theater, the gate will unlock."

Gobo and Lou began digging through the plants and looking underneath the stone structures looking for the theater masks. They found them pretty quickly, as well as some rope. Lou put the masks in place, and the door to the theater opened, revealing a curtain, and a lever. Gobo tried to pull the lever, but it was stuck.

"Maybe it needs oiling," Lou said. "We'd better tie the curtains back ourselves."

Gobo nodded, and took one of the ropes he and Lou found, while Lou took the other, and they tied back the curtains, revealing the puppets. Gobo looked at them, oddly.

"This is weird," he said. "What's this supposed to be, anyway, Lou?"

"It's a story about two Silly Creatures who are soldiers," Lou said. "They're brought before the king and queen, because they were going to desert this war or something, and the court jester tells the king and queen one of the soldiers is a female Silly Creature who disguised herself as a male Silly Creature because she loved the male Silly Creature soldier."

"Weird looking puppets," Gobo said. "Looks like the king's wearing a dress, and the queen's wearing a suit of armor, and one of the soldiers is wearing a jester's hat."

"The heads must've gotten mixed up somehow. We'd better fix it. And I see why the lever wouldn't work. Two of the gears are missing."

Gobo nodded, and he and Lou got right to work searching. Gobo found the gears, and put them in their place. Then he and Lou began switching the heads on the puppets to put them in their proper place. Gobo then took the crank, and pulled it. The gate immediately opened.

"I knew that would do it," Lou said.

"Right," Gobo said. "Now, onward!"

Gobo and Lou walked onto the main street of Fraggledonia, but it was empty, which Lou found odd for that time of day. There were usually Fraggles all over the place. They looked in the shop windows, and found the Fraggle shopkeepers inside fast asleep.

"They must be under the same sleeping spell," Lou said.

"Hey, Lou, what are these gates at the end of the path?" Gobo asked.

"I think those are the gates to the Fairy Realm. The ones the Trash Heap told us about. I don't think the Fraggledonians or the goblins know where this leads. They told me the gate isn't opened often."

Gobo walked over to the gate, and pulled on the doors, but nothing happened. Then he pushed on the doors, but they wouldn't budge.

"Locked, naturally," he groaned. "Lou, how do you open these gates?"

"Well, some of the shopkeepers told me there's a mechanism that opens them," Lou said. "The owners of the toy shop, the fruit stand, and the book store have the exact items that unlocks them. They told me they place these items on these columns in front of the gates here, and that opens them."

"What are they, weights?"

"No, they told me that they use books, toys, and fruits to open them."

"What?! Lou, you've got to be kidding me!"

"I'm serious, Gobo, that's what they told me."

"No offense, Lou, but the Fraggles here sound like they've flipped."

"Yeah, I know, but they live here, and we don't, so let's just go with it, okay?"

Gobo shrugged, and he and Lou began gathering up books, toys, and fruits, and starting putting them on the pillars. Finally, they found the right combination, and the pillars sank into the ground, which opened the gates. Gobo and Lou looked out at what was ahead of them. There was a forest at the end of what looked like a huge field.

"I think that's where we go," Lou said. "Into that forest out there."

"Looks like we've got quite a hike ahead of us, eh?" Gobo said. He went back to the fruit stand, and began gathering up some of the fruit.

"What are you doing?" Lou asked.

"If we're gonna cross that field, we're gonna need some strength," Gobo said, handing Lou a pear, and a bunch of grapes. Then he took a piece of paper and a pencil from his pocket, and wrote a note to the proprietor. "I'll pay him for the fruit when we get back, I promise."

"Don't worry about it," Lou said. "I'll have the goblins take care of it. We've got more important things to worry about now."

"Right. Well, let's go."

Lou drew in her breath, and stepped through the gates. Gobo gulped, and followed her. Neither of them knew what was waiting ahead of them, but they knew they had to move forward.


	8. The Fairy Realm

It had taken quite awhile to trek through the fields to the forest. By the time they reached it, the sun had gone down, and they couldn't see a thing.

"I wish I brought a lantern," Gobo said. "Then again, a lantern wouldn't do much good unless we brought some matches, and then we'd have to go all the way back to . . . . whoa!"

Gobo tripped over something, and fell flat on his face.

"Gobo, are you all right?" Lou asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Gobo said, picking up a strange metallic object. "I just tripped on this . . . . doohickey. You have any idea what it is?"

"Not one clue," Lou said, taking the object from Gobo. She let her eyes adjust to the darkness, and stepped forward. "Look at this. It looks like some kind of a lamp base. I wonder if this doohickey is part of it?"

"Well, put it on the base and we'll find out."

Lou nodded, and placed the doohickey on the base. Unfortunately, it wouldn't fit.

"I'm sure it goes with this," she said. "Maybe there are other parts to it."

"If there are, they must be hidden in the bushes," Gobo said. Immediately, he began digging through one bush, while Lou searched another. Finally, the two of them came up with two more metallic objects. Gobo took his and put it on the base. Then he heard a click.

"Oh good, that one fits," he said.

Lou put her metal object on top of Gobo's, and it clicked into place. Then she put the first doohickey on, and it clicked into place as well, but nothing happened. Then she began turning the doohickies to see if that would do anything, while Gobo began searching the bushes for more parts.

"Maybe we should wait until morning," he said. "We'll be able to see better."

"I'm kind of afraid to fall asleep," Lou said. "If we do, we might end up under Lilith's sleeping spell, and then what will we do?"

"Good point," Gobo said, as he picked up what looked like a light bulb on a stick. He placed it into the metal doohickies, while Lou found a wooden board. She placed it on the stick, but still nothing happened.

"Here's another board," Gobo said, and he placed the board he found above Lou's. The minute he did, a bright light came on, and the two Fraggles were able to see.

"We did it!" Gobo shouted.

"But which way do we go?" Lou asked.

Gobo and Lou studied the two sign boards. One looked like it had three little houses on it. The other appeared to have a larger house on it, with three turrets. Gobo looked at one of the trees beside the sign post, and saw a group of squares in the trunk, which were removable. He looked over at the trunk on the opposite side, and saw the same thing.

"You know," he said, "the design on these tiles kind of look like the picture on the sign boards. Except they aren't in the right order."

"So let's put them in the right order and see what happens," Lou said. "I'll take the left, and you take the right."

"Right," Gobo said.

Gobo and Lou went to their corresponding trees, took out the tiles, and began to rearrange them. The minute they got them in the proper order, the squares in the trees began to glow, as well as one of the boards on the sign posts. The boards turned in two opposite directions, and the sign with the large house picture glowed.

"I think we go this way," Gobo said, following the glowing arrow on the sign. Lou nodded, and followed Gobo down the path.

When the two Fraggles reached the end of the path, they found a large house at the end of it. They ran to the door, and tried to open it. It did open a crack, but then it slammed shut on them.

"Wow!" Gobo shouted, moving his hand back almost immediately. "Almost lost a couple of fingers that time! I think this is Lilith's cave, or whatever Silly Creatures call these things."

"Gobo, look on the path," Lou said. "Some of the stone circles rose!"

"Let's investigate, shall we?"

Gobo and Lou looked at the raised circles. One of them had shapes on it. The second appeared to have some of the cycles of the moon on it. The third had Roman numerals going around it in a circle. The fourth and final one had the Zodiac signs on it, though Lou and Gobo had no idea what the Zodiac was, so they couldn't make heads or tails out of that stone.

"What do you think these mean, Gobo?" Lou asked.

"I don't know," Gobo said, walking over to the second stone. "But if this stone represents the cycle of the moon, they're out of order! I'm gonna put them in the correct order!"

Gobo picked up the smaller stones in the larger stone, and put them in the correct order. Once one of the cycle pieces was in it's correct slot, it began to glow, and then it sank into the ground.

"I've got it!" he shouted. "We have to put these markings in the correct order, and maybe then the door will unlock!"

"That figures," Lou said.

"Yeah, it sure does. Okay, listen, you take the ones with the shapes and the funny looking pictures, and I'll take this one. Uncle Matt send me this ticking thing once, and it had markings just like these all around it, so I know the correct order."

"But how am I supposed to know what the correct order is?"

"Fake it. They'll start to glow when they're in the right spot. Trial and error."

"Okay, I guess."

Lou shrugged, and she and Gobo immediately got to work putting the pictures on the circles in their correct slots. The one with the shapes was easy. Lou put the triangle in the first slot, and it started to glow. Then all she had to do was count the sides of the other shapes to find out the sequential order. Next came the square, then the pentagon, hexagon, heptagon, octagon, nonagon, and finally, the circle. Since Gobo knew what a watch with Roman numerals looked like, he was able to figure out that stone pretty quickly. Once he was finished, he helped Lou figure out the correct order of the last stone.

"I wonder what these pictures are?" he asked.

"I don't know," Lou said. "Must be some kind of Silly Creature thing."

"Probably. Well, that's the last of them."

The minute Gobo placed the last picture in it's correct spot, the stone sank, and the front door opened. Immediately, the two Fraggles ran inside Lilith's mansion. They found themselves in the front hall, and were about to run up the steps, when the lights suddenly went out.

"Oh great!" Gobo shouted. "She must be onto us! Now what are we going to do?"

Gobo heaved a sigh, and leaned against something metallic. When he did, he inadvertently pushed a button, and the chandelier blinked four times. Lou walked over to another post, and pushed the button on it. The chandelier blinked once. Gobo pushed another button on another post, and the chandelier blinked three times.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" he asked.

"Yep," Lou said. "We'd better find the correct order, though."

Gobo nodded, and he and Lou began pushing the buttons on the posts in order to find the right order. It took a bit of trial and error, but they managed to get the order down. Once the lights came on, the two Fraggles raced up the stairs. They were about halfway up, when the steps suddenly disappeared, and Gobo and Lou slid down the ramp.

"Hey, no fair!" Gobo shouted.

"That's too steep for us to climb," Lou said.

"Oooohh . . . . rock beetles!" Gobo shouted, and he kicked the staircase. When he did, a pattern of lights appeared in the posts that lined the wall. Lou walked around the posts, and pushed the buttons in them, repeating the patterns. When she was done, a section of the staircase reappeared. A framed picture also appeared behind the staircase.

"I think I've got something here, Gobo!" she shouted. "You try the staircase, and I'll repeat the patterns!"

"Okay," Gobo said. He climbed up the section of stairs, and pushed on the next empty section with his foot. Another light sequence started, and Lou repeated it. Just as before, another section of stairs, and a framed picture appeared.

The two Fraggles kept this up, until all the steps appeared, and the staircase was fixed. Gobo ran back down the stairs, and helped Lou gather up the rest of the pictures. Then they put them on the wall.

"I don't know what this is going to do," Gobo said, "but it wouldn't hurt to get these back up."

Lou agreed, and she and Gobo got to work. Most of the pictures were of Silly Creatures. Gobo was about to put the last one on the wall, when he suddenly gasped and dropped it.

"What's the matter?" Lou asked.

"It's . . . . it's this picture!" Gobo shouted, picking it back up.

Lou walked over to Gobo and took a look. There was a Fraggles in it. The picture was in black and white, so Gobo and Lou didn't have any idea what color she was. She wore a muumuu printed with tropical flowers, and had a tropical flower in her hair, which was in a ponytail.

"It's Wini!" Gobo shouted. "Wembley's mother! What would a Silly Creature fairy be doing with a picture of her?!"

"There's only one way to find out. Put it up, and see what happens."

Gobo put the picture on the wall, and a door opened. The two Fraggles stepped inside cautiously. Inside the room were four doors. Beside the doors were signs. The first one said "Simply Green," the second said "The Essential Powers," and the third said "Those That Are Hardest, Then Sorted From Lightest to Heaviest." The fourth door didn't have a sign on it. There were some gems embedded in it, instead. All four doors had stone indentations on them, running vertically, and stone tiles running horizontally on the bottom with pictures on them. Gobo looked at the door entitled "Simply Green," and saw a tile of a space frog his uncle had brought back from Outer Space once. He knew they were green, so he took it out of the bottom of the door, and stuck it into one of the vertical slots. Then he looked at the slots on the other doors. He found a picture of a plant, and one of a lizard. He took those, and put them in the other two slots on the "Simply Green" door. Once he did, a circle of light appeared on it.

"I've got it!" he shouted. "We have to take the pictures from the bottom of the door, and put them in the side of the door. We'll have to do a lot of trial and error, though, because I'm not sure what all these mean!"

Lou nodded, and she and Gobo began gathering up the picture tiles. The second door was easy. All the two Fraggles had to do was find tiles that representing earth, wind, water, and fire. They found pictures of the Earth, a card with the symbol of air, a watering can, and a match. The third door wasn't so easy, however.

"I don't understand what it means," Gobo said.

"There are a lot of pictures of items made of metal," Lou said. "And metal is hard. Maybe we're supposed to take the picture tiles of the metal items, and put them in order from lightest to heaviest."

"Worth a shot," Gobo said.

The two Fraggles gathered up the picture tiles of a nut, a screwdriver, a pair of scissors, a saw, a crowbar, and a weight, and put them in the vertical slots in that order. Sure enough, the light circle appeared on the door. Once it did, Gobo and Lou stood in front of the final door, and stared at it.

"There aren't any instructions on it," Lou said. "How do we figure this out?"

"Hmmm," Gobo said, looking at a tile that pictured the moon. "Hey! Remember what Herbert said in the greenhouse? The moon is always first! Maybe this is what he meant!"

Gobo took the moon tile and placed it in the vertical slot. Unfortunately, that didn't help much. Lou looked at the door, and touched one of the gems.

"Pi is followed by the book," a voice said. "The book's contents follow."

"Huh?!" Gobo shouted. "What was that?!"

"I don't know," Lou said. "I just touched the rock and that voice came out of nowhere!"

"Hmmm," Gobo said, thoughtfully. He reached up and touched another gem.

"None can precede the white round night lady," the voice said.

"That must be the moon," Gobo said. Then he reached up and touched another gem.

"The two is three," the voice said.

"Now what does _that_ mean?" Gobo asked.

"I think that means either two goes in the third spot, or three goes in the second spot," Lou said, and she began to look around the doors for the numbers. She found the Roman numeral for three, but none for two, so she stuck the three in the second slot. Gobo pushed another gem.

"Three times two equals three point one, four, one, five, nine, two," the voice said.

"That doesn't tell us much," Gobo said.

"Except it's lousy at math," Lou said. "Three times two is six. But we'd better keep going, because I'm not sure what that means."

Gobo nodded, and pushed another gem.

"Fourth with seven horses following," the voice said. Gobo and Lou looked at each other and shrugged, and then Gobo pushed another gem.

"The agile one goes between three and seven," the voice said.

"And there you have it," Gobo said. "None of that makes any sense to me."

"Me neither," Lou sighed. "What are we going to do? If we don't figure this out, Wembley will be asleep forever!"

Lou sat down and started to cry. Suddenly, some of the picture tiles on the doors came out by themselves, and landed on the floor by Lou's feet.

"There, there, little Fraggles," the voice of Marjory the Trash Heap said. "Don't cry, I can help you!"

"Oh please, Madam Heap!" Gobo shouted. "Please, can you tell us where these tiles go?"

"No, I can't do that," Marjory said, as one tile floated into the air. "What I _can_ do is tell you what's on the tiles. This one is of a stick horse. This is the number seven. And this tile is pi."

"Doesn't look much like a pie to me," Gobo said.

"No, no," Marjory said. "Not that kind of pie. I mean pi. Pi equals three point one, four, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. These two tiles are of the book you had to find in the library, and the crystal that was inside of it. And last, but certainly not least, this tile has a picture of a cute little pussycat on it! Pussycats are very nice, and they are very agile, too! Now, then, touch the gems again to repeat their instructions, and you'll be able to figure out what to do. Good luck!"

Gobo and Lou looked at each other, as the tiles clattered to the floor. Then they shrugged, gathered up the tiles, and began to touch the gems again. It dawned on Lou that the pi tile belonged in the sixth slot, and the seventh slot contained the book, and the eighth, the crystal. That left the cat, the Roman numeral of seven, and the stick horse. As Gobo was staring at them, he snapped his fingers.

"Seven goes in the fourth spot!" he shouted. "And the stick horse goes in the fifth spot!"

"And that leaves the cat, which goes in the third spot!" Lou shouted.

Immediately, Gobo and Lou put the tiles in their proper spots, and the circle on the door appeared and glowed. In a flash of light, a tall, female Silly Creature wearing a red flowered shirt and red flowered pants appeared in front of the two Fraggles. She carried a crystal ball in one hand and a book in the other. She looked down at the two Fraggles, and glared at them.

"Are . . . . are you Lilith?" Gobo asked.

The Silly Creature said nothing, and suddenly vanished. Gobo and Lou looked at each other, and the ground began shaking.

"What's happening?!" Lou shouted.

"I don't know, but we'd better run!" Gobo shouted.

Gobo and Lou ran out of the room as fast as they could, and to the staircase. Unfortunately, as they were climbing down the stairs, they split in half, due to the sudden shaking, and the two Fraggles were thrown into the hole separating the upper and lower levels of the mansion.

"What are we going to do now?!" Lou shouted.

"Hold on, and wait until we land!" Gobo shouted. "I think that's all we can do!"

Gobo and Lou screamed as they fell, and they both landed with a loud thump, hit their heads against the floor, and lost consciousness.


	9. Dream Prison

It was daylight by the time Gobo woke up. He stood up, feeling a little disoriented.

"Oooh . . . ." Gobo groaned. "What hit me?"

The orange Fraggle shook his head to regain his composure, and looked around. He saw that he was in some kind of circular stone chamber, and there was no way out. He looked around the room, and spotted Lou against the wall, still unconscious. He ran over to her, grabbed her shoulder, and began shaking it.

"Wake up, Lou!" he shouted.

"Mmmph . . . ." Lou mumbled, and she slowly began to regain consciousness. "Where are we?"

"I don't know, but I don't like it," Gobo said. "We're trapped. Lilith probably sent us here to keep us from finding out how to break her sleeping spell!"

"There _has_ to be a way out of here! But where is it? I wish I had the amulet. Then we'd be out of here easily!"

Gobo and Lou searched the room frantically, tapping on walls, and stomping on stones in the floor, hoping to open any secret passages, but nothing happened. Finally, Gobo saw something in the center of the room. It looked like a pair of frog eyes. The minute he touched it, a glass case rose up from the floor, containing a book.

"There's no way to open this case," he said.

"I think I know a way," Lou said, spotting a hammer that suddenly appeared on the floor. She picked it up, and smashed the glass. Then she picked up the book and opened it. A light shone out of it, and projected an image of Marjory the Trash Heap in front of the two Fraggles.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Marjory shouted. "I was afraid I'd lost contact with you Fraggles!"

"Madam Trash Heap, is that you?" Gobo asked.

"Who were you expecting, Junior Gorg?" the Trash Heap asked.

"Where are you?" Lou asked.

"Where I always am," Marjory said. "In the Gorg's garden. I'm able to communicate with you through the magic book there. The magic here is strong, my little Fraggles. Lilith put you two in Dream Prison to keep you from breaking her sleeping spell. There is a magic flower on one of the walls. You must touch it, and you will be able to escape! Then you must escape the other two chambers of the Dream Prison."

"It's never easy, is it?" Gobo asked.

"Don't look at me, I'm just an oracle," Marjory said.

The flower picture the Trash Heap mentioned suddenly appeared on one of the walls. Lou touched it, and the wall opened. Immediately, she and Gobo ran out. The next room had a large tree growing in the center of it, but the two Fraggles paid it no heed. They saw the door on the other end was open, and they ran for it. Before they reached it, it closed on them, and the tree began shedding it's bark, revealing animal shapes carved into the trunk underneath it.

"We'd better find the animal shapes and put them back in the tree," Gobo said, and he began searching the ground for the shapes.

It didn't take too long for Gobo and Lou to find the animal shapes. Once they found all five pieces, they put them back into the tree, but nothing happened.

"Did we do something wrong?" Gobo asked.

"No, not at all," Marjory said. "Now you have to put the bark back on the tree to open the door."

Gobo shrugged, and he and Lou gathered up the pieces of tree bark the tree had shed. Once they put it back, the door on the other side of the room opened. The next room had a large pool of water in it. The way out was on the other side, and there was no way to cross it.

"Well, I don't mind a little swimming," Gobo said, shrugging.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Marjory said.

"Why not?" Gobo asked.

"It's too deep to swim," Marjory explained. "I know you Fraggles are excellent swimmers, but I wouldn't recommend it. In any case, after you leave here, you will be where the fairies originated."

"But how _will_ we get out of here?" Lou asked.

"You have to solve the wall puzzles before you can cross the reflecting pool," Marjory said.

"Makes sense," Gobo said, shrugging. "Lou, you take the left wall, and I'll take the right wall."

"And I'll be in Scotland beforrrrrrre ya!" Marjory suddenly sang, rolling the R. "La da dah, la da dah, la da dah, la da, dah . . . ."

" _What_?!" Gobo and Lou shouted in unison.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away there," Marjory said.

Gobo and Lou looked at each other, sighed, and went to their respective walls. Lou's wall had fourteen tiles on it. Each tile had a line on it that was used to form a shape. There was a diamond, a square, and what looked like a peanut shell. When she touched the wall, the tiles disappeared, and then reappeared, only this time, they were scrambled. Immediately, Lou took the tiles off and began rearranging them until they were in there rightful places. Gobo's wall was the same, except his had only one squiggly circular shape. Once he was finished, he and Lou stood in front of the reflecting pool, and waited. Two stepping stones appeared in the water.

"Choose your path carefully, Fraggles," Marjory said. "One stone is the correct path, the other is a trick."

"That figures," Gobo sighed. "And I don't suppose you can tell us which is which?"

"I'm afraid not," Marjory said. "Believe me, Fraggles, I am doing all I can. If I could do more, you wouldn't have had to go all the way to Fraggledonia and the Fairy Realm, now would you?"

"She's got a point, Gobo," Lou said.

Gobo sighed, and he and Lou got started. When they chose the correct stone, two more appeared. Gobo jumped to one of them, but the minute he landed, it disappeared, and he plunged into the water.

"Aaahhh!" he shouted. Suddenly, he floated out of the water, and was placed on the previous stone.

"I warned you to choose carefully," the Trash Heap said. "I will help you out of the water if you choose incorrectly, but next time, be careful!"

"Right," Gobo said, wringing out his shirt. "Thanks, Madam Heap."

"I really hope this doesn't turn into trial and error," Lou said, jumping to the stone Gobo hadn't jumped on. When the next two stones appeared, Gobo jumped to the one diagonal from the one they were currently on. Nothing happened.

"I think I see a pattern," Gobo said. "Jump diagonally!"

Lou shrugged, and followed Gobo's lead. Luckily, they managed to get from stone to stone, and to the door without anymore mishaps.

"Very good, Fraggles!" Marjory shouted. "Now, there's a magic lock on the door. You have to solve the puzzle to unlock it. I have to warn you, there are more challenges up ahead, but it's the only way to help your little friend."

"Not to mention Fraggledonia," Lou said.

The puzzle on the door was similar to the ones on the two walls, except the tiles couldn't be removed. Instead, when Gobo touched one, the tile, and the ones touching it, rearranged themselves.

"Oh boy," he sighed. "I have a feeling this is going to be one of those days."

Lou nodded, and she and Gobo got to work rearranging the tiles until they found the solution. Once they did, the door opened, and the two Fraggles raced out as fast as they could.


	10. The Ancient's Place

Gobo and Lou entered another round room, with three stone doors. There were rocks scattered all over the were square shaped, some were rectangular, and some were round. And all three doors were locked.

"Where are we now?" Gobo asked.

"This is the Ancients' Place," Marjory explained. "It's one of the oldest places in the Fairy Realm. Fairies came here to study. It is written that no mortal can enter this place. And if they do, they can not be allowed to leave. The fairies do not want the mortals too know about their ways. You see all of the stones laying on the ground? You need to use them to open the doors. Start with the round ones. They go in those large spaces next to the doors."

Gobo and Lou took one of the round rocks, and carried it over to the first door, putting it into the space Marjory had indicated. A circular shape lit up briefly, and then disappeared. The two Fraggles took another rock, and put it in the space on the right side of the door. The circle on the door lit up completely, and stayed lit. Furthermore, four indentations appeared in the wall. As Gobo pondered what to do next, Lou began picking up the square rock shapes.

"Hey, Gobo!" she shouted. "Some of these rocks have shapes printed on them! This one looks like part of a circle!"

"Hey, you're right!" Gobo shouted. "Come on, let's put them in place and see what happens!"

Gobo and Lou put the rocks into the wall, and the door opened. The two Fraggles ran inside, and found a machine of some sort.

"Naturally, it's broken," Marjory's voice sighed. "Lilith's doing, I'm sure."

"What is it, Madam Trash Heap?" Gobo asked.

"This is a Stone Printing machine," Marjory said. "The Ancients built it. They use it for printing symbols on stones. There should be a mold somewhere for you to use for it."

"You mean like this?" Lou asked, picking up a metal square with a right angle printed on it.

"Yes, that's exactly right," Marjory said. "Very good, princess!"

"Well, let's get started," Gobo said.

The two Fraggles looked around the area for what they needed. They found two gears and a handle, and attached them to the machine. Lou put the mold in the machine, and Gobo put the stone in. Then the two Fraggles pulled the handle, and printed the right angle onto the stone. They did this three more times, and the mold disappeared. Then the two Fraggles went back out to the Ancients' Place, and put the two round rocks they had left next to the other two doors. One door featured some kind of curved figure, and the other a square.

"I know where these go now," Lou said, taking the stones she and Gobo and printed, and put them into the slots.

Once the door opened, the two Fraggles ran inside. Behind this door, there was a strange machine that neither Gobo, nor Lou could figure out. Gobo reached out and touched it, but the minute he did, parts of the machine suddenly disappeared, and reappeared, scattered among the grass and rocks.

"Ooooh, that troublesome little pixie!" Marjory shouted. "If I ever get my hands on her . . . ."

"What's wrong, Madam Heap?" Gobo asked. "And what is this thing?"

"This machine makes molds," Marjory said. "You're going to need them if you want to open the last door. I hope you remember what the machine looked like when you came in!"

"I do, don't worry," Gobo said.

"You two had better hurry!" Marjory shouted. "I just looked into Fraggle Rock, and the sleeping spell has spread! All the Fraggles have fallen asleep! Not only that, your little friend isn't there!"

"What?!" Gobo shouted, and he began to panic. "What do you mean Wembley isn't there?! What happened?!"

"Lilith must have taken him!" Lou shouted. "Remember? It was all part of the dreams we had!"

"Oh no!" Gobo shouted. "Madam Heap, please, tell us, where did Lilith take Wembley?"

"That, I do not know," Marjory said. "And it's much worse than I expected. Not only have all the Fraggles fallen under the spell, but so have the Gorgs, and Philo and Gunge as well!"

"But how come you're not affected by the spell?" Gobo asked. "And how come we're not?"

"You two aren't affected because I'm protecting you," Marjory explained. "This is why I can't solve the puzzles for you. I'm using what magic I have to protect you, and communicate with you. And I'm not affected because Fairies are immune from other Fairies spells when they have been transformed."

"Oh well, I guess that makes sense," Gobo said. "I mean, fairies wouldn't be affected by each other's . . . . wait a minute . . . ."

"What did you just say?!" Lou shouted.

"I'm unaffected my Lilith's spells because fairies can not cast spells on other Fairies when they have been transformed," Marjory said. "You didn't think I was a trash heap my entire life, did you?"

"Well . . . ." Gobo said, a bit hesitantly.

"Uhhhh . . . ." Lou said.

"It figures," Marjory sighed. "This is another reason I'm helping you Fraggles. I have a bit of a score to settle with Lilith. I used to be a Fairy just like her, but she turned me into a trash heap. An unliving, lay-there-like-a-pile-of-garbage trash heap. I didn't become the oracle you Fraggles know and love today until my boys came along. Unfortunately, I am unable to change myself back, and neither can Lilith or any other Fairy in the Realm. Once you have been transformed, there is no way to transform back."

"Oh how horrible!" Lou shouted.

"It's not so bad, really," Marjory said. "I get a lot more peace and quiet these days, and I enjoy sharing my wisdom with you Fraggles. But that's beside the point. Right now, you have to fix that machine!"

"Right," Gobo said. "Come on, Lou!"

Immediately, Gobo and Lou looked around the area, and gathered up everything they could find that they thought would be useful, including some blank, square, metal plates. Gobo found two wooden bars and what looked like a wooden bowl, while Lou found a wooden hoop, and a large crystal ball.

"I think these go to the machine," she said.

"Right," Gobo said, as he put the wooden bars in place.

Once the bars were in place, Lou put the hoop on top of them. Gobo set the bowl on top of the hoop, and Lou attached the crystal ball. The minute it was in place, the two Fraggles heard a strange noise, and a wooden crank appeared out of nowhere. Gobo picked it up, and attached it to the machine, but nothing happened.

"Maybe we should turn the crank," Lou said.

"Good idea," Gobo said. "Give me a hand."

The two Fraggles turned the crank, and shifted the position of the crystal ball, until a beam of light hit the crystal and reflected onto the center of the machine.

"Now to put the metal plates in place," Lou said, and she placed one metal square on the machine. The crystal ball glowed, and imprinted a shape onto the metal plate. Lou removed it, and put another plate on. The crystal repeated the previous action.

"Incredible," Gobo said, as he collected the final mold. "But we've still got a problem."

"What's that?" Lou asked.

"We don't have anymore stones to make prints."

"But we do have a hammer! We can knock those rectangular stones outside in half!"

Lou picked up a hammer that was laying next to the machine, and ran back to the Ancients' Place. Gobo stood there, scratching his head for a moment, and then finally followed her out. When he reached her, he found her smashing six rectangular rocks into twelve square rocks.

"Don't just stand there, Gobo!" she shouted. "Help me pick these up and take them to the stone printer!"

"Right," Gobo said, picking up six squares, while Lou picked up the other six.

The two Fraggles returned to the stone printer, and placed a mold, and a rock. Then they printed the shapes onto the stones. Every time they were finished with a mold, it disappeared.

"Well, that's the last of the molds," Gobo said. "But we still have four squares left over."

"Better hang onto them," Lou said. "We might need them for something."

"I guess so. Come on. We've got that center door to open!"

Gobo took the printed squares, and ran back out to the Ancient's Place, and placed the squares into the indents. When the door opened, he and Lou raced through to find a broken bridge, and a rushing waterfall.

"Oh great, a dead end," Gobo said. "What do we do now, Madam Heap?"

"There's this old saying," Marjory said. "The water will stop if you place a diamond on the wall. I don't have any idea what that means, though."

"Something tells me it has to do with the stone printer and the mold maker," Lou said, picking up a blank metal square.

"You're probably right," Gobo said, looking at the wall. "There are four indents here like there were with the doors. Let's get to it! I'll meet you at the printer, Lou!"

Gobo took the mold, and ran to the mold maker. He put it on the machine, and the crystal ball glowed, creating the mold. This one had a diagonal line on it. He then took it off, and ran back to stone printer. Lou had put one of the four remaining stones in the printer. Gobo put the mold in it's place, and he and Lou ran to the handle.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Ready," Lou said

The two Fraggles pulled the handle down, and printed the line on the four stones. They each took two of the stones, and put them together. They formed a diamond shape.

"I knew it!" Gobo shouted. "Let's go put this diamond in the wall!"

The two Fraggles went back to the waterfall, and stuck the stones into the indentations on the wall. Once they were in, the waterfall stopped running, and revealed the bridge wasn't really broken, just missing some planks. Luckily for them, they spotted some boards nearby. Gobo took one and put it on the bridge. Lou followed with the other planks, and she and Gobo fixed the bridge plank by plank, until the bridge was fully repaired. On the other side of the chasm was a giant door, which looked very intimidating.

"I don't know if I want to know what's on the other side of that thing," Lou said.

"Me neither," Gobo said. "But we have to find out, whether we want to or not. Wembley could be on the other side of it, and he might be in trouble!"

Lou had to agree with that, and she and Gobo crossed the bridge.


	11. The Labyrinth

The two Fraggles stared at the large bridge, trying to find a way to open it, but they couldn't figure it out. The door didn't have a doorknob or a handle.

"How do we open this door, Madam Heap?" Gobo asked.

"You will need four keys," Marjory said. "And it's obvious Lilith hid them, darn her. On the other side of this door is a labyrinth that you must work your way through, and once you find your way through, you will be able to return to Fraggledonia. I have a friend there, Merrow. He was also a Fairy, but Lilith stripped him of his powers. He should be able to help you."

"Is this one of the keys?" Gobo asked, picking up a strange metal object, and holding it up to the book. It was a circle that had an arrow on it.

"That's it," Marjory said. "Now all you have to do is find the other three."

"Madam Heap," Gobo said, "before we do, do you think you can answer a question for us?"

"What's that, little Fraggle?"

"Why do you think Lilith has a picture of Wembley's mother in her cave?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know the answer to that. But perhaps you will find out as you continue your journey."

Gobo sighed, and crossed the bridge again, looking for more keys. Lou followed him.

"Gobo, does Wembley's mom live in the Rock?" she asked.

"Not anymore," Gobo said. "She used to, but one day, she left, and never came back."

"Why?"

"I don't really know. One day, when I was eight, and Wembley was five, Wini came to Uncle Matt, told him she was going to help Mokey's mom and Red's mom gather radishes, and asked him to look after Wembley for her. Uncle Matt asked when she was going to be back, but she never answered. Later, we ran into Darcy and Cerise, and Uncle Matt asked where Wini was, and they said they hadn't seen her, and when he brought up that Wini told us she went to gather radishes with them, they said they hadn't been to the Gorgs' garden that day, and nobody had seen Wini since she dropped Wembley off with Uncle Matt. And nobody ever saw her again."

"You mean she abandoned Wembley? Just like that?"

"That's what Uncle Matt thought, and so did Cerise. Boy, was she mad! Matter of fact, nearly the entire Rock thought Wini just dumped Wembley with us and left. For a long time afterward, Wembley kept asking where his mother was, and when she was coming back. You should have heard Marlon's mother talking about it. She said Wembley was a product of a one-night stand, and nothing more than an accident, since Wini never got married, which I didn't know until years later. She also said Wini never wanted him to begin with, and never loved him at all. And she said that right to Wembley's face, too!"

"That's terrible!"

"I know. The poor little guy was crushed. I didn't think we would ever get him to stop crying after that!"

"Didn't the Storyteller know why Wini left?"

"I don't know if she did or not. For years, Wembley kept asking her to tell him about his mother, and she always told him the same story. She just left and never came back. Finally, Wembley gave up on it after a couple of years, and nobody's really ever mentioned it after that. I think everybody's forgotten it at this point. And if they haven't, they've never brought it up. They were just willing to accept that Wini abandoned him. I think Wembley accepted it as well, but he still misses her."

"Do you think Lilith might have something to do with Wini leaving? After all, she _did_ have that picture of her in her cave. Or house. Or whatever it's called."

"I don't know. I guess the only way to find out is to continue."

Once Gobo and Lou found all the keys, they stuck them into the door. Three of the keys turned red when they did, and the door was still stuck. Gobo turned one of the keys, and another one turned along with it.

"Oh brother, another puzzle," Gobo groaned. "I _hate_ puzzles like this!"

"Me too," Lou sighed. "Let's just get it over with."

Gobo turned another key, which turned all four keys. When he turned the third key, three of the keys moved. The fourth key didn't move any of the other keys, which relieved him, but it didn't make him feel any better. He just continued turning the keys until they were all in their correct positions. Once he figured it out, the door opened.

"Last one in's a rotten radish!" he called, and dashed inside. Lou rolled her eyes, and followed.

On the other side of the door, as Marjory had said, was a dark labyrinth. The two Fraggles began walking around it, trying to figure out where to go. They knew if they found their way to the other side, they would be back to the mortal world.

"I hate labyrinths," Lou said. "I always feel so lost in them."

"I know what you mean," Gobo said. "I always feel like I'm going to run into monsters in them. The Storyteller once told me this story about a goblin king who made Silly Creatures solve his labyrinth. The only one who did was a Silly Creature who wished the goblins would take away her baby brother, and she had to solve the labyrinth to save him."

"You don't think we'll find anything like that in here, do you?"

"I don't know. But I'll let you know. Actually, I think I saw the Goblin King once, on the box the Silly Creature that lives in Outer Space watches. He was surrounded by goblins, singing about a magic dance or something like that. Go figure."

Lou nodded, and continued following Gobo down the tunnels of the labyrinth. While they were walking, they came across torn up pieces of paper. When they put them together, a map appeared.

"Just what we need!" Gobo shouted. "Come on, Lou!"

Gobo and Lou used the map to get down the various corridors. Luckily for them, there was a small dot on the map that moved whenever the two Fraggles did. Gobo figured that dot was supposed to be them. In one dead end, they came across a barrel, and weird looking peg.

"I wonder what's in this barrel?" Lou asked.

"I wonder where this peg goes?" Gobo asked. "Forget the barrel, Lou. Let's keep going."

Lou shrugged, and followed Gobo. After a few more turns, they came across a large door with a hole in the middle of it. Gobo took the peg, and stuck it into the hole, which unlocked it.

"These Fairies use weird keys," he said. "We'd better keep going."

Lou nodded, and continued to follow the orange Fraggle. As they were walking, they came across some more barrels, as well as another metal key, like the ones they had to stick in the door earlier. Lou picked it up, and put it in her pocket. At the end of another hall, Gobo found a hammer, and picked it up.

"You never know what you'll need in a maze," he said.

The two Fraggles continued along. Along another tunnel, they found another key, and another door.

"I hope this is the last of them," Gobo said, walking up to it. Then he and Lou got a good look at the door, and groaned.

"Oh no!" Gobo shouted. "It's just like the door where we entered! And we've only found two keys!"

"Maybe the other three keys are in the barrels," Lou said. "This hammer should break them open. Let's go!"

Lou took the hammer from the orange Fraggle, and ran off. Gobo sighed, and ran after her. After all, he still had the map. The first barrel they smashed open didn't have anything inside of it, so they went to the next one. The second one hid one of the keys they needed, as did the third one. The fourth one was empty. The last barrel held the last key, and the two Fraggles ran back to the door as fast as they could.

"How much you want to bet this is going to be just like the door we came through?" Gobo asked, as he and Lou placed the keys into the holes. When they did, they all turned red, signifying that they weren't in their correct positions.

"What'd I tell you?" Gobo sighed, and immediately got to work turning them. When he finally got the right combination, the door opened, and he and Lou raced through it, leading to a wooded area.

"We did it!" Lou shouted. "We're back in the mortal world!"

"And this path leads right to Fraggledonia," Gobo said. "Now all we have to do is find out where this Merrow is."

"And hope he can help us," Lou said.

Gobo nodded, and he and Lou ran through the woods, hoping to find this Merrow that the Trash Heap mentioned.


	12. Merrow's House

At the end of the path, Gobo and Lou found two buildings, and a fountain. The minute they got close to them, however, the plants around them began growing, and roots covered the doors. The fountain began spraying water from four different sides, and hard. Gobo stepped forward, and was blasted with the fountain, which pushed him away.

"There's no way we can get past that!" he shouted, sputtering.

"Not without a little maintenance," Lou said, looking at a set of doors on the ground in front of the fountain. She bent down and tried to open them, but they were stuck.

"You need some leverage," Gobo said. "And I know just the thing to help you!"

Gobo saw a crowbar in front of the fountain, where the water wasn't shooting out, and grabbed it. He stuck the end of it into the tiny gap in the door, and pried them open. There were several sets of faucets inside. He began turning them, and slowly, the water stopping shooting out of the sides of the fountain, and began flowing from the top of it. Not only that, the roots in front of the doors slunk back into the ground, and one of the doors opened. Lou went to investigate, while Gobo went to the other door.

"Locked," he said, as he tried to open it. He looked around, and saw a key. He picked it up, stuck it in the lock, and opened the door.

"Hello?" he called out, as he walked inside. "Anybody home?"

There was no answer. Gobo looked at the staircase that lead upstairs, but it was too dark up there to see. He began to get a little nervous being in this house by himself, so he ran back outside, and ran into the other building to find Lou. Inside the other building, there was some kind of tank, and a large water wheel. Nothing was moving.

"What's going on?" Gobo asked.

"The tank closed as soon as I walked in here," Lou said, shrugging. "I think that rope over there will open it, but neither of us can stand here all day holding it open."

"You're right," Gobo said. Then he found a plate laying on the ground. "Maybe if we tie this plate to the rope, it'll be heavy enough to hold it open."

Gobo and Lou picked up the plate and tied it to the rope. Unfortunately, the cover of the tank didn't open.

"We're going to have to find something heavier," Gobo said. "We could put it on this plate."

"Like a rock?" Lou suggested.

"Yeah. Let's go out and see if we can find one."

The two Fraggles ran outside, and began looking around. Gobo found a large rock, and picked it up. Lou took a look outside of the building, and found a switch on the wall.

"I wonder what this does?" she asked. She pulled it, but nothing happened. She also noticed a piece of string that was connected from the water mill to the house next to it.

"I wonder what that thing's for?" she asked.

"Figure it out later," Gobo said. "Help me with this rock, Lou, it's heavy!"

"Oh yeah, sorry," Lou said, and she helped Gobo lug the rock into the water mill. The two Fraggles placed the rock on the plate, and the tank cover opened, spilling water into the wheel, causing it to turn. Then the two Fraggles went back outside.

"Now what?" Gobo asked.

"Call it a hunch," Lou said, walking over to the switch. She pulled it down, and sparks began flying from the string between the two buildings.

"What's that?" she asked. "It kind of looks like the Ditzies."

"Maybe that's the light source for the house," Gobo said. "It _was_ awfully dark in there. Let's go see!"

Gobo and Lou walked into the house, and Gobo noticed nothing had changed. It was still pitch black upstairs. Lou walked over to the other side of the room, and found a door. She tried to open it, but it was locked. Gobo found a key on the floor, picked it up, and tried to unlock the door, but it wouldn't fit.

"Now what?" he asked.

"I don't know," Lou said, looking around the room. She saw a picture on the wall of two Silly Creatures, but neither she, nor Gobo, recognized them.

"What's this thing?" Gobo asked, looking at something black sticking out from behind the frame. He pulled it out, and found a round, black disc.

"What's that?" Lou asked.

"I've seen the Silly Creature with one of these things before," Gobo said. "It's called a record. They put it on a weird machine called a record player and music comes out of them. Personally, I don't think it'll ever catch on."

"I'll say it won't," Lou said. Then she spied something on the opposite wall. "Hey, Gobo, look at this! It's some kind of panel."

Gobo looked, and noticed there were three bulbs on the panel. One of them was glowing. He turned one of the circles on the panel until a line connected with the glowing bulb, and lit up.

"Maybe if we connect the two bulbs, something will happen," he said.

"Worth a shot," Lou said. "Go for it!"

Gobo immediately got to work connecting the lines across the panel to the bulb that had a drawing of a staircase with an arrow pointing up. Once the lines were connected, Lou saw some light coming from upstairs.

"You did it, Gobo!" she shouted. "Come on, let's see what's upstairs!"

Gobo nodded, and followed the purple Fraggle up the stairs. There wasn't much in this room, except for a lot of books, some bottles of strange liquid, a fireplace, and a strange box with a weird cone on it.

"What's that thing?" Lou asked.

"That's a record player," Gobo said.

"Actually, it's a gramophone," Marjory's voice said. "And it's magical."

"Oh, hi, Madam Heap, I was wondering where you went," Gobo said.

"A magical gramophone?" Lou asked. "How does it work?"

Lou touched the gramophone, but the minute she did, a strange noise was heard, and pieces of the gramophone, as well as the hexagon pieces on the table it sat on, suddenly disappeared.

"I knew that was going to happen," Marjory groaned. "You two are going to have to put it back together, and replace the hexagons to see it's powers."

"Somehow, that doesn't surprise me," Gobo said, with a sigh.

The two Fraggles immediately got to work, trying to find the pieces of the gramophone, as well as the wooden hexagons. There were several locked boxes on the shelves, and keys scattered around. Gobo and Lou unlocked all the boxes, but they were only able to find one hexagon in any of them.

"I could get to hate Silly Creatures," Lou grumbled.

"I'm sure not all of them are bad," Gobo said, picking up a piece of the gramophone and putting it in place. "The one that lives in the room I go into doesn't seem that bad. I think it's these puzzles that are making you a little cranky."

"I think you're right. I'm just worried about Wembley."

"Yeah, so am I. I'm gonna go downstairs to look for the hexagons and the parts of this gramophone. You look around up here."

Lou nodded, and searched the rest of the room with the proverbial fine tooth comb, while Gobo did the same downstairs. Then, he went outside, and into the watermill, and found a couple of pieces there. Once he collected all the pieces he found, he returned upstairs, and found Lou, sticking the hexagons she found in place.

"I found the rest of the pieces," he said.

"Good," Lou said. "All I found were the hexagons, plus two more record things."

"Let's put it back together and see what happens."

Immediately, Gobo and Lou got to work putting the gramophone back together. The minute they were finished, pictures appeared on the hexagons.

"Well done, Fraggles!" Marjory shouted. "Now play the records and find out what the gramophone is magically guarding!"

"Yeah, but what are these pictures?" Gobo asked. "I mean, I recognize some of them, like fire, water, rain, the frog, and the tree creature, but what are the others?"

"This one is a cow," Marjory said, and the hexagon lit up, and a moo was heard. "That's what it sounds like. And this one is a cat, this one is a horse, and this one is lightning."

As Marjory described each picture, the corresponding hexagon lit up, and the two Fraggles heard the sound associated with it.

"Okay," Gobo said, taking one of the records and putting it on the gramophone.

"You know how that thing works?" Lou asked.

"I've seen the Silly Creature do it," Gobo said. "How hard can it be? You just put the needle thing on the record and wait."

Gobo took the gramophone needle, and placed it on the record. He heard a crackling fire, ocean waves, and a whinnying horse. Then the pictures disappeared from the hexagons.

"Uh oh," Gobo said. "I guess we have to match the sounds with the pictures. Let me see . . . . the fire hexagon was here . . . ."

"And the water was here," Lou said, touching one of the hexagons.

"And the horse was here," Gobo said, touching the hexagon. With each hexagon the two Fraggles touched, a small light on a drawer lit up.

Gobo put on the next record, and heard a frog, thunder and lightning, and rain. He and Lou immediately pressed the corresponding hexagons and the lights lit up. On the third record, they heard a cat meowing, a chirping bird, and a mooing cow. Once again, they pressed the hexagons, and the lights in the drawer lit up, and it opened, revealing a key.

"I'll bet this is the key to the room downstairs!" Gobo shouted. "Come on, let's go see!"

Gobo grabbed the key, and he and Lou raced down the stairs. Gobo stuck it into the lock, and opened the door, but it was too dark to see anything down there.

"I think I've found the switch," Lou said, flicking a switch, but nothing happened. "Darn it, it's not working. Maybe we have to go back to the panel and connect the lines again."

"You go do that," Gobo said. "I'll stay here."

"Okay."

Lou went back upstairs to the panel, and connected the lines until they were connected to the bulb with a picture of a staircase with an arrow pointing down this time. Then she went back through the door, and flipped the switch again. The lights came on immediately, revealing what looked like some kind of laboratory. There was a strange plant sitting on the counter.

"Great," Gobo sighed. "Nobody's here."

"I beg to differ!" a voice shouted. Gobo and Lou yelped, and jumped.

"Who said that?" Lou asked.

"I did," the voice said. "Over here on the counter."

Gobo and Lou looked, and found that the voice was coming from the plant.

"Hello," the plant said. "I'm Merrow."

"You're Merrow?" Gobo asked. "The fairy the Trash Heap told us about? But you're a plant!"

"Who are you?" Merrow asked, ignoring Gobo's remark.

"Two very confused Fraggles," Gobo said. "The Trash Heap said you'd help us find our friend, and . . . ."

"Hmph," the plant grumbled. "I've no time for mortals. Good luck with your search."

"But . . . . but . . . ." Gobo stammered.

"Let me handle this, Gobo," Lou said. "Excuse me, Mr. Merrow?"

"Yes?" Merrow asked.

"I'm Princess Louise of Fraggledonia, and this is my friend, Gobo," Lou said. "Our oracle, the Trash Heap, sent us to find you."

"The princess!" Merrow shouted, and bowed. "Of course! I'm very honored, your highness. I would be happy to help you and your friend!"

"I thought you didn't like telling people you're a princess," Gobo said.

"Normally I don't," Lou said, "but we weren't getting anywhere with you talking to Merrow. Anyway, Gobo, be nice to him."

"Would you please light a fire?" Merrow asked. "It's freezing in here!"

"Sure," Gobo said. "But we don't have anything to start a fire with."

"Here's a match," Merrow said, handing Gobo a match. "There are some logs outside."

"Okay," Lou said. "We'll be back."

The two Fraggles left the lab, and went back outside to the fountain. They gathered up four logs, and went back inside. They put the logs in the fireplace. Gobo struck the match, and tossed it in, lighting a roaring fire.

"Ahhh, much better," Merrow said. "You must forgive me, princess. I haven't been myself for awhile."

"Yeah, I believe it," Gobo said. "The Trash Heap said you were stripped of your magic, but she didn't say anything about being transformed! Are you going to help us or not?"

"Yes, well . . . ." Merrow said, clearing his throat. "I find it very difficult to focus on you two in the state I'm in. And besides which, I need the two of you to help me before I can determine whether or not I can help you!"

"Please forgive Gobo," Lou said. "He's just a little anxious right now, and neither of us were expecting you to be a plant. Tell us what we can do for you."

"Very well, princess," Merrow said. "My water hasn't been changed for who only knows how long! I could do with a chlorophyl cocktail. Would you make one for me?"

"Sure," Lou said.

"Yeah, okay," Gobo said. "Just one question, though. What's a cocktail?"

"Don't worry, I'll tell you how to make it," Merrow said. "There's a bottle of Liquid of Plant Life upstairs. Go get it and pour it into the flask. That's that big glass thing on your right."

"Got it," Lou said. "I'll be right back!"

Lou ran up the stairs, while Gobo stayed behind with Merrow.

"Are you _sure_ you're Merrow?" he asked.

"You're awfully pushy for someone who needs my help," Merrow said. "If your friend wasn't the princess of Fraggledonia, I wouldn't even help you at all!"

Before Gobo could pluck Merrow's leaves out, Lou returned to the lab with the Liquid of Plant Life, and poured it in the flask. It immediately began changing colors.

"Did I do something wrong?" Lou asked, nervously.

"Not at all, princess," Merrow said. "Find an empty bottle, and pour the liquid in it once it turns yellow."

Gobo grabbed an empty bottle from the shelf, and turned a valve on the flask once the liquid changed to yellow.

"Good," Merrow said. "Now you need to heat it. You can do this by pouring the liquid in the other flask, and heating a candle underneath it."

Lou found a candle, and lit it in the fireplace. She stuck it in a burner base, and put it underneath the other flask, while Gobo poured the liquid in it. Heating the liquid up turned it green. Gobo transferred the liquid into another empty bottle, and poured it into Merrow's glass.

"Aaahh, thank you," Merrow said. "Now then, tell me again why you need my help?"

"Our oracle told us a fairy named Lilith cast a sleeping spell over our friend, Wembley," Lou explained, "and she told us we'd find the answers in Fraggledonia, since there's a path to the Fairy Realm here. When we arrived, everyone in Fraggledonia was asleep. Then we found out Lilith cast her sleeping spell over Fraggle Rock, and all the Fraggles there are under the sleeping spell, and we think Lilith took Wembley."

"We don't know where he is, or what she's going to do to him," Gobo said. "Or even why she wants him!"

"Hmmm," Merrow said, thoughtfully. "Lilith must be holding him in the Tower of Dreams. It's not an easy path, and reaching the Tower is almost impossible for a couple of mortals. Are you _sure_ you want to go there?"

"If that's where she's keeping Wembley, then yes!" Gobo shouted. "Wembley's my best friend, and I'm going to rescue him, even if I die trying!"

"Me too!" Lou shouted.

"Very well," Merrow said. "I'll guide you. I have business with Lilith myself."

"She gets around, doesn't she?" Gobo asked.

"It won't be an easy trip, princess," Merrow said, ignoring Gobo. "You and your friend have to follow my instructions to the letter. I can communicate with plants, but you will no longer receive messages from your trash heap oracle."

"What?" Gobo asked. "But she's helped us so much on this journey! We can't just stop listening to her!"

"Isn't there another way?" Lou asked.

"I'm sorry," Merrow said. "But you can only have one guide, and I'm the only one who can guide you."

Gobo and Lou looked at each other nervously. They weren't sure about this at all, but they didn't see any other way around it.

"Okay, Merrow," Gobo sighed. "Let's go."

Lou picked up Merrow's glass, and she and Gobo left his house. They didn't have a moment to lose.


	13. The Tower of Dreams

Merrow guided the two Fraggles back into the Fairy Realm. Gobo opened the book he and Lou had found at the start of the journey, hoping to see Marjory's image in it, but nothing came up. When the threesome reached the docks, they stopped.

"This is the Lake of Dreams," Merrow explained. "And across the lake is the Tower of Dreams, where Lilith is holding your friend."

"It doesn't look too far," Gobo said. "We could probably swim this."

"I wouldn't advise it," Merrow said. "After all, looks can be deceiving. You can not cross the Lake of Dreams without first repairing that boat."

Merrow pointed one of his leaves toward a dilapidated boat sitting on the docks.

"Wouldn't it be faster to swim across?" Gobo asked.

"Do you want my help or not?" Merrow asked.

Gobo sighed, and he and Lou got to work. They gathered up some pieces of driftwood, a couple of oars, and an oarlock.

"This isn't going to be enough," Lou said. "We need more pieces."

"Maybe we should look in these barrels," Gobo said, trying to pry open a nearby barrel. "No good, it's stuck. And I don't suppose you still have that hammer we found in the labyrinth, do you, Lou?"

"Sorry, it's gone," Lou said, shrugging.

"That's okay, I think I've got another idea."

Gobo went across the docks and picked up a harpoon. Then he went back to the barrels, and plunged the harpoon into them. Most of them were empty, but Gobo used the harpoon to break some of them apart.

"I think this should be enough," he said. "Let's get to work."

"Wait a minute," Lou said. "We don't have any nails. How are we going to keep the boat together?"

Gobo looked around the docks, and found a bucket, and a paintbrush. He stuck the brush in, and tried to pull it out, but it was stuck. After one, good yank, the brush came out, with a snap.

"Maybe we can use this sticky stuff," he said.

"Resin," Merrow said. "And that's a very good idea. That should hold your boat together."

Gobo handed the brush and bucket to Lou, and picked up one of the boards. Lou painted the resin on it, and Gobo stuck it in place. The two of them kept this up, until the boat was finished. Lou went over the entire boat with the resin again, just to reinforce it. Luckily for them, it dried quickly. Then the two Fraggles pushed it into the water.

"That's that," Gobo said, taking one of the oars and jumping into the boat. Lou picked up the other oar, as well as Merrow's glass, and followed. The group rowed across the lake and soon were face to face with the Tower of Dreams.

"Wow," Gobo said, looking up at it. "I'm getting a stiff neck."

"Merrow, are you sure Wembley's in there?" Lou asked.

"Yes," Merrow said. "I'm certain Lilith is holding him on the top floor. You two Fraggles must do what no mortal has done before. You must enter the Tower of Dreams and free him. But I have to tell you, once you enter the Tower, I will be unable to help you. You see, transformed fairies are not permitted in the Tower."

"Okay," Lou said, putting Merrow's glass down. "Thanks for your help."

"My pleasure, princess," Merrow said.

With that, the two Fraggles went up to the tower doors. Gobo tried to open them, but they were locked.

"There are two hidden buttons that will activate the magical lock," Merrow said.

Gobo and Lou looked around, and saw two triangular shaped objects on the railing of the stairs. They looked at each other, and pushed them immediately. Eight holes appeared on either side of the walls.

"Kind of reminds me of the puzzles in the Dream Prison," Gobo said.

The Fraggles walked over to one side of the wall, and looked at it. There were two stones in place. One was a flower, and the other looked like the sun. Both were glowing red. Lou took the flower stone out, and placed it in another hole. The flower immediately turned blue, and couldn't be removed. Gobo did the same thing with the sun, though his try took a few more attempts before he got it in correctly.

"I think this is how we unlock the door," Gobo said. "We'd better look around for more stones!"

"Right," Lou said.

The two Fraggles began looking in various places for round stones, and gathered up several that matched the flower and sun motif. They also gathered up ones that had trees and clouds on them as well. Lou spotted a footpath in the distance, and went down it, just in case there were more stones. At the end of it, she found another round stone, as well as a tree, with what looked like stained glass windows embedded in it. She was immediately drawn to them.

"How pretty!" she sighed, and she headed towards it.

"Stop, princess!" Merrow's voice shouted. "That tree isn't important! You _must_ enter the Tower of Dreams! Come away from there, quickly!"

Lou hesitated. She somehow felt a comforting presence from within the tree, and she wanted to get a closer look at the windows.

"Hurry, princess!" Merrow shouted. "Don't you want to rescue your friend? Anyway, as you can see, there's no way to get inside that tree!"

Lou sighed. Merrow was right about that, so she left the tree where it was, and returned to the tower with the stone.

"Where were you?" Gobo asked, when she came back with the stone.

"Just looking at a tree," Lou said. "It was so pretty. It had stained glass windows on it, and, for some reason, I felt something comforting about it, but Merrow said it wasn't important. But somehow, I think it is."

"Do you want to go back and check it out?"

"No, I couldn't find a way to get inside of it."

"You must hurry, Fraggles!" Merrow shouted. "Who knows what Lilith plans on doing with your little friend! You must rescue him!"

"Merrow's right," Gobo said, putting a stone in one of the holes. "We can worry about the tree after we rescue Wembley."

Lou wasn't sure about that, but she placed the stones in the holes anyway. She decided to get the tree out of her mind for the time being, and focus on Wembley. Once she and Gobo had the stones in their correct positions, the doors to the tower opened.

"Remember, I can not go with you," Merrow said. "But I'm sure you'll be able to figure out what to do. Farewell, princess, and good luck to you!"

"Thanks, Merrow," Lou said. "We appreciate your help!"

"Bye!" Gobo called, and he and Lou went inside the tower, both nervous about what lay ahead of them.

Upon entering the Tower of Dreams, Gobo and Lou found themselves in a circular room. There was a pipe organ to one side, and several of it's pipes scattered across the floor. There was a second floor, but it looked like there wasn't a way up to them.

"What in the world is that thing?" Lou asked. "It looks like the goblins' piano, only bigger!"

"It looks like something I saw in a cave once," Gobo said. "A stalacpipe organ. Only this one's made out of metal instead of rock. And I'll bet Lilith tampered with this. And I have an idea. Usually, when something's broken around here, fixing it allows us to proceed."

"I get it," Lou said. "So you think fixing the big piano thing will unlock the stairs."

"Exactly!"

Immediately, Gobo and Lou gathered up the pipes, and placed them into their proper place. With that, the organ opened. Gobo and Lou came closer to it. Gobo hit a key on it, and nearly jumped a mile at the noise it made.

"Loud, isn't it?" Lou asked. "Not to mention kind of creepy."

"Yeah," Gobo said. Then he cracked his knuckles. "Well, here goes nothing."

Gobo began playing the organ, and Lou grimaced at the creepy sounding music that came out of it. When he was finished, a stone appeared on the floor. Both he and Lou ran to it, and stepped on it, but nothing happened.

"Darn it," Lou said. "I was hoping if we stepped on it, we would float up to the next floor."

"Looks like we're going to have to keep this up until we get an entire staircase," Gobo sighed. He went back to the organ and began playing some more. He kept this up until the stairway was complete.

"That did it!" Gobo shouted. "Let's move!"

Gobo and Lou dashed up the stairs. The second floor held lots of shelves filled with books, and a crystal ball on a table. When they entered, however, all of the books disappeared, except for one. Gobo ran to the one book, and began reading it.

"Fairy libraries can hide secrets in many ways," he read. "Letters can hide words and their meanings. With that knowledge, unlock the secrets. Uh oh."

"What's uh oh?" Lou asked.

"The rest of the book is gibberish. I can't make heads or tails out of it! Terhe are five bkoos of a knid. Five bokos hvae tiehr tetlis wonrg, nda sohw tiehr ootpipses. What the heck does that mean?!"

"That's not gibberish, Gobo. The letters are just mixed up. I can probably figure it out. I'm good at word puzzles."

Lou found a pencil and a piece of scrap paper, and began writing out the mixed up words. Gobo began looking around the room for clues, when he found two more large books. He took one of them, and placed it on a pedestal, but he couldn't open it. He picked up the other one, and tried to open it, but it was stuck shut as well. He sighed, and put it on the other pedestal. The minute he did, the books began to return to the shelves, and some scattered around the floor.

"Okay, Gobo," Lou said. "I figured it out. "The book says there are five books of a kind, and five books have their titles wrong and show their opposites. I figure the five books of a kind go on their own shelf, and the five other books go on the opposite shelf they were made for."

"You mean a book about light would go on a shelf with books about darkness," Gobo said.

"Right. All we have to do is figure out which is which."

Gobo nodded, and heaved a sigh. He knew this task wasn't going to be easy. The two Fraggles gathered up the books and immediately got to work. They found a book about night time, and they put it on the shelf with books about the sun, the book about fire on the water shelf, the book about myths on the history shelf, the book about light on the darkness shelf, and the book about peace on the war shelf. The other five books were about magic and fairies, so they put those books on a shelf that was completely empty. Once all of the books were on the shelves, a door in the ceiling opened, revealing another staircase.

"Come on, let's go!" Gobo shouted.

"Wait a minute, I unscrambled another part of the book," Lou said. "While only the crystal ball can open the three books of secrets there is only one crystal ball, and two places it can rest."

"Oh, so _that's_ why those two books wouldn't open," Gobo said, and he picked up the crystal ball. The book on the table shut immediately, nearly taking off Lou's fingers.

"Hey!" she shouted.

"Sorry, Lou," Gobo said. Then he put the crystal ball on a space next two the two pedestals. The books opened, and each Fraggle looked in one.

"The Magical Band must be unlocked for you to continue," Gobo said. "And here's a list of instruments. Mechanical violin, two pieces, strings, air, percussion, thick on top, and X. Hmm. The pictures next to them sure don't match the description!"

"This one talks about chess and armor," Lou said. "With chess, it says follow the sequence in the correct order, and your opponent loses a piece. Fail, and you lose a piece. For the armor it says, it can only be donned in the correct order."

"We'll keep that in mind. Come on, let's go upstairs. There's nothing we can do here."

Lou nodded, and she followed Gobo up the stairs. The two Fraggles found themselves in a room with chairs and music stands. When they stepped inside, they all disappeared, and reappeared, scattered around the floor. Bits of paper were also scattered around the room as well.

"And once again, we have to put things in order," Gobo said.

"You know, it's funny," Lou said. "We're getting closer and closer to the top floor, and yet, I feel like we're not getting any closer to Wembley at all."

"You know something? I get that same feeling. Usually, we explorers have this intuition that tells us when we're getting close to something big, and I haven't felt that once since we entered this tower. But I'm sure it doesn't mean anything. As soon as we put this stuff back together, everything will be okay."

Lou wasn't sure about that, but there wasn't any other way to find Wembley at this point. She and Gobo gathered up everything that they could find in the music room, but they found they were a few items short, so they went back downstairs to the library, and even to the pipe organ.

"Lilith sure isn't making this easy!" Gobo shouted, as he pulled a piece of paper from the inside of the organ.

"I think she's trying to discourage us," Lou said, as she and Gobo went back upstairs. "I've got news for her. It won't work!"

Gobo nodded, and followed Lou back to the music room. Once they put the music stands together, the sheet music books appeared on them, but they were all missing pieces. Gobo and Lou began putting the pieces back together, while reading the odd names of the instruments.

"Zanfona, rebec and bow, chicoten, pandero, and caraccala," Gobo said. "Weird sounding instruments. I wonder where they are?"

"I wonder _what_ they are," Lou said. "Maybe we can figure it out from that book downstairs."

The two Fraggles went back downstairs, and took a look at the book. Gobo stared at the silhouettes of the instruments. Somehow it bothered him that they didn't seem to match their descriptions. He tapped the X shaped silhouette next to the description of a mechanical violin, and it suddenly floated off the page.

"Did you see that, Lou?!" he shouted.

"Do it again, Gobo," Lou said.

Gobo nodded, and touched the rest of the silhouettes. All of them floated onto the page, and into Gobo's hand. Immediately, Gobo began placing them where he felt they should go, judging by their descriptions. When he did, the silhouettes became detailed, colorful illustrations, and the names of them appeared. Lou started to write them down, when she heard an enormous crash upstairs.

"What in the Rock was _that_?!" Lou shouted.

"Let's go upstairs and find out," Gobo said.

The two Fraggles raced upstairs, and found the musical instruments from the book scattered all over the floor.

"I think I know what to do," Lou said. "We have to put the instruments in their proper chair."

"But there are seven instruments and only five chairs," Gobo said. "Two will be left over."

"I know," Lou said, picking up a stringed instrument and what looked like a flute. "You and I are going to join in. You play the mandolina, and I'll play the dulzania. Now help me put the other instruments in place."

Gobo shrugged, and he and Lou placed the instruments in the chairs, with a little help from Lou's notes. Once they were all in place, they began playing by themselves. Gobo and Lou immediately joined in, hoping that would help do something. Once they finished playing, another stairway in the ceiling opened.

"Lou, you're a genius!" Gobo shouted. "Onward and upward!"

The two Fraggles raced up the next flight of stairs immediately, finding a chessboard. There were white and brown pieces on various squares, and several were broken. Their heads were scattered around the room. Gobo and Lou both groaned loudly.

"Oh brother," Lou sighed.

"It figures, it figures," Gobo said, rolling his eyes.

Gobo and Lou began picking up the scattered chess pieces, and putting them back where they belonged. Once everything was fixed, the pieces positioned themselves in their starting positions, and one of the squares on the board lit up. Gobo jumped onto it, and a brown piece disappeared.

"Just like the book said," Gobo said. "Follow the sequences!"

"I really _hate_ sequence puzzles," Lou sighed, but there was no way around it.

Gobo and Lou jumped from lighted square to lighted square, trying to follow the board's sequences. It wasn't easy, as the board was going so fast at points, and both Fraggles accidentally jumped on the wrong square about three times, but they finally managed to remove all of the brown chess pieces, and won the game. Upon their victory, another staircase opened up from the ceiling.

"I'm glad _that's_ over!" Gobo shouted, breathlessly.

"I won't feel better until this entire ordeal is over!" Lou shouted, sitting down on the bottom step to rest for a minute. "Give me a minute, Gobo. I'm too wiped out from all that jumping."

Gobo agreed, and sat down himself. Once he caught his breath, he and Lou continued on their way. The next floor featured five suits of armor. The minute the two Fraggles got there, the suits fell apart, and pieces scattered everywhere.

"Not aga- _ain_!" Gobo whined.

"We can't do anything about it, Gobo," Lou said. "We just have to put them together again. And remember what the book said. We have to do it in a certain order."

"Right," Gobo said, picking up a metal leg. "We'll start with the feet, and work our way up."

Lou nodded, and she and Gobo got to work, placing the suits of armors parts. They started with the legs, then the trunks, then the chests, then the shoulders, then the arms, then the helmets, and finally the swords. The minute they got the last sword in place, a doorway in the ceiling opened, and a staircase came down. By this time, Lou and Gobo were exhausted.

"I hope this is the last one," Lou sighed.

"You and me both!" Gobo shouted.

The two Fraggles trudged up the stairs, and they were ready to drop when they reached the top of it. The only thing inside the room was a bed. Gobo ran over to check it, but it was empty.

"Wembley's not here!" he shouted.

"Congratulations, princess!" Merrow's voice called out. "You and your friend made it to the top of the Tower of Dreams! You've reached the Dreamer's room. Lie in the bed, and go to sleep. Dream of little Wembley, and when you wake up, he will be here."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Lou said.

"Me neither," Gobo said, stifling a yawn. "But I'm so tired from all that stair climbing, and jumping to and from chess squares, and lugging heavy armor and putting them all together . . . . I just _gotta_ take a nap!"

Lou was about to object, but she felt utterly exhausted herself, and the bed _did_ look inviting. She and Gobo were about to climb in, when they heard Marjory the Trash Heap.

"Little Fraggles, don't do it!" she shouted. "Don't go to sleep! Get out of there, now!"

"Madam Trash Heap?" Gobo asked. "What are you . . . . what's going . . . ."

"Merrow is working for Lilith!" Marjory's voice shouted. "This is nothing but a trap! If you go to sleep, you won't be able to wake up! They've been keeping me from helping you, but no more! I can help you now! Jump out the window!"

"Out the window?" Gobo asked, as one of the windows in the tower opened. He and Lou looked out, and noticed it was a long way down.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Gobo said.

"Don't worry, little Fraggles," Marjory's voice said. "I'll make sure you are not hurt, I promise! But you _must_ do it, and quickly!"

Gobo and Lou looked at each other. They immediately ran to the window, and jumped out. They trusted the Trash Heap.


	14. The Eternal Tree

Gobo and Lou screamed as they fell, but suddenly, a gust of wind caught them in mid-air, and brought them down, gently, and carried them down the footpath Lou had found, and over to the tree.

"Is Wembley in the tree, Madam Trash Heap?" Lou asked.

"No, I'm afraid not," Marjory said. "But you have to get inside, anyway. You will not be able to proceed unless you do."

"How do we get inside?" Gobo asked.

"You need to return the windows to their correct places," Marjory said. "The colored panes are all mixed up. I can't tell you what goes where, however. But you'll be able to figure it out. The colors that are in their correct places won't be moveable."

Lou and Gobo immediately got to work. There were six windows in total. Black, red, pink, green, blue, and yellow, and each of the windows had eight tiles on them. On the first window, the top three tiles were green, and so were the bottom two outside pieces. Gobo tried to move them, but they wouldn't budge. The two tiles in the middle were blue and black, and the middle tile on the bottom was red, and Gobo was able to move those.

"Finally, an easy puzzle," he said. "This shouldn't take too long to solve."

"I really hope not," Lou said.

Gobo and Lou rearranged the tiles on the windows. As soon as they were in their correct positions, a door opened up in the ground. Immediately, the two Fraggles ran down a set of stairs. There they found a room, with a crystal ball laying on the floor next to a stuffed Fraggle doll.

"I recognize this!" Gobo shouted, picking up the doll. "It's Wembley's! His mother made it, and he's had it since he was a baby!"

"Oh, boy, Gobo, look at this!" Lou shouted, looking into the crystal ball. Gobo walked over to look as well.

Inside the crystal ball was an image of Fraggle Rock, and everyone was asleep, even the Doozers. Some of them had even fallen asleep while driving their bulldoozers, and they were still running!

"It's amazing they don't drive off their constructions," Gobo said.

"When I saw that everyone in Fraggle Rock had fallen asleep," Marjory explained, "I put those bulldoozers on automatic pilot so they wouldn't drive off their constructions and hurt themselves."

"Good idea," Gobo said. "But how are we going to wake up Fraggle Rock?"

"There's a drawing of the Eternal Tree on the door behind you," Marjory said. "You need to solve the puzzle on it. Green goes on the bottom. That's the only advice I can give you."

"Well, it's better than nothing," Gobo said, as he and Lou walked toward the door.

The two Fraggles contemplated the puzzle. They noticed the colored stones matched those of the windows in the tree. Gobo tried to take the stone on the bottom out, but it wouldn't move. It changed color instead.

"That's it!" Gobo shouted. "This is a diagram of the tree, and these colored stones are the same colors as the windows! If green is on the bottom, then the one to the left of it must be pink! And yellow to the right. Next to yellow, blue. After blue, red, and after red, black, and next to black, pink!"

Gobo switched the colored stones, and when they were in the correct order, the door opened. He and Lou ran through it as quickly as they could. They found they were in yet another labyrinth.

"Oh no, not again!" Lou moaned.

"I know, little Fraggles, I know," the Trash Heap said, sympathetically. "But you must find a special potion and sprinkle it on the crystal ball in order to wake up the Fraggles, the Doozers, the Gorgs, my boys, and Fraggledonia. And it's somewhere in this labyrinth."

"Of course," Gobo sighed. "Got a map we can use, Madam Heap?"

"No, I'm sorry," Marjory said. "You're going to have to use your wits on this one."

Gobo and Lou sighed, and they started walking along. After some twists, turns, and winding up back where they started and having to start over, they managed to find a key in one of the tunnels, and another key in another tunnel. When they got to the door they started from for a fifth time, Lou was beginning to get frustrated.

"Gobo, we're going around in circles!" she shouted.

"Calm down, Lou," Gobo said, as he and Lou went along through a different opening than when they started. "I know this is frustrating, but we _have_ to do this."

"I just wish we had a map! This is making me crazy!"

Gobo nodded. He wanted to quit right then and there, but he knew he couldn't. He just couldn't let Fraggle Rock, or Fraggledonia, stay asleep forever. He also knew if he and Lou didn't continue, they would never find Wembley. They had to keep going. At the end of another tunnel, the two Fraggles found a door, and another key on the floor.

"Looks like we'll need one of those weird peg keys," Gobo sighed. "Come on, let's keep going.

"Ugh," Lou grumbled.

The two Fraggles turned around, and kept walking. After some more backtracking, and circling, they finally found something at the end of one of the tunnels.

"Hey, look, a treasure chest!" Gobo shouted. He took one of the keys and unlocked it. His face fell when he saw what was in it.

"Nothing but a blue rock," he sighed.

"Better hold onto it," Lou said. "We might need it."

Gobo nodded, and stuffed the rock in his pocket. Then he and Lou continued on. They found another chest at the end of another tunnel, but the only thing inside it was a green rock. Lou put it in the pocket of her smock, and continued on. It didn't take long before the twosome found another chest. Inside it was a red rock.

"I'm getting a little tired of this," Gobo said.

"Welcome to the club," Lou said with a sigh.

The two Fraggles walked on a little more, until they came across a dead end, but this one had a statue of a female Silly Creature's face carved in it. There were two walls next to it, and they had the same carvings. What's more, the rocks Gobo and Lou had found began glowing. Gobo took the blue rock, and placed it in an opening on the carving. The eyes of it turned blue. Lou took the green rock and did the same thing to another carving, and Gobo did the same with the red rock and the third carving. Once all the rocks were in place, a stone peg appeared out of nowhere.

"Now we're getting somewhere!" Gobo shouted. Then he sighed. "Now all we have to do is find that big door again."

Lou moaned, but followed Gobo anyway. Thankfully, it didn't take them too long this time around. Gobo took the stone key, and stuck it into the hole in the middle of the door. The door opened, revealing . . . . .

"More tunnels!" Lou and Gobo moaned in unison.

"This place is starting to make me dizzy!" Lou shouted.

"Come on," Gobo sighed. "You know we can't quit now."

The two Fraggles walked down the next tunnel, and luckily for them, they found a bottle at the end of it.

"This must be the potion the Trash Heap was talking about!" Gobo shouted, picking up the bottle. "Let's get back!"

The two Fraggles once again made their way down the tunnels of the labyrinth. Only this time, it took them forever just to find the door they used to enter the labyrinth in the first place. At this point, Lou was regretting complaining about them winding up back where they started! Finally, they found the entrance, and ran back into the Eternal Tree's hidden room, but Gobo immediately noticed something was amiss.

"Lou, did you take Wembley's toy Fraggle with us into the labyrinth?" he asked.

"No, why?" Lou asked.

"Well, it's gone."

"You don't have it, do you?"

"If I did, I wouldn't have asked you if you had it, now would I?"

"Look, we'll worry about it later. We have to wake up Fraggle Rock!"

"Right. But how do we do that?"

"That's easy," Marjory said. "Open the potion bottle, and sprinkle the potion on the crystal ball when you see all the areas that need to be awakened, one at a time."

Lou picked up the crystal ball, and Gobo opened the potion bottle. An image of Fraggledonia appeared in the ball, and Gobo immediately sprinkled the potion on it. Once he did, the Fraggledonians began waking up, and the image changed to the Gorgs' castle. Gobo was a bit hesitant at first, but he sprinkled the potion anyway, and the three Gorgs began waking up. Then, Philo and Gunge appeared in the crystal ball, and Gobo sprinkled. They woke up, and looked around, a little confused. Finally, Fraggle Rock appeared in the crystal ball, and Gobo sprinkled the last of the potion on it. All the Fraggles began waking up.

"What happened?" Red asked.

"Can they hear us, Madam Heap?" Gobo asked.

"Yes, go ahead and talk to them," Marjory said.

"Hey, Red! Mokey! Boober!" Gobo shouted. "Can you hear me?"

"Gobo, is that you?" Mokey asked.

"Where are you, anyway?" Red asked, looking around. Before Gobo answered, Boober screamed, and began running around in panic.

"This is terrible! Terrible!" he shouted. "Gobo, I don't know where you are, but I think you should know that Wembley's disappeared!"

"Yeah, Lou and I already know that, Boober," Gobo said. "Listen, are you guys all right?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Red said. "But where are you guys?"

"We're in the Fairy Realm," Gobo explained.

"The _where_?!" Red shouted. "Where in the Rock is _that_?!"

"Outside of Fraggledonia," Lou said. "We promise, we'll explain everything once we get back to Fraggle Rock!"

"We just wanted to make sure you guys were okay, because you wound up under the same sleeping spell as Wembley was under," Gobo said.

"Oh, no wonder I feel so refreshed," Mokey said, stifling a yawn. "But, Gobo, what about Wembley?"

"I hope he isn't out sleepwalking," Boober moaned. "That could only mean disaster if he is! He might walk right off a cliff!"

"Don't panic, Boober," Lou said. "Gobo and I are gonna look for him right now."

"Yeah, and we're not going to come back to the Rock until we find him!" Gobo shouted. "We'll see you guys later, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Red said. "But, promise you'll be careful, okay, Gobo?"

"Okay, Red," Gobo said. "I promise, we'll be careful."

The crystal ball went blank, and Lou put it down. She and Gobo were about to leave, when they saw Lilith appear at the top of the steps. She glared at the two Fraggles, and waved her hand over her crystal ball. A huge funnel cloud appeared out of it, and swept up Gobo and Lou.

"Hang on, Lou!" Gobo shouted. "I have a feeling this is going to be a bumpy ride!"

"And who knows where we'll end up this time!" Lou shouted.

The twister flew out of the Eternal Tree, through the Fairy Realm, and past Fraggledonia. When it finally stopped, it dropped the two Fraggles on the ground as hard as it could, and they wound up losing consciousness again.


	15. Fred and Phoebe Fraggle

Gobo and Lou finally woke up hours later. They were laying in a hanging bed inside of a tree house in a beautiful forest. The sun was shining, and the tree creatures were singing. It was a beautiful day. Both of the Fraggles yawned, and stretched. Then they looked at each other, and smiled.

"Good morning, darling," Lou said.

"Good morning, sweetheart," Gobo replied, and he and Lou kissed each other. He climbed out of bed, and stretched.

"I must be the luckiest Fraggle alive!" he shouted, cheerfully. "I've got a beautiful home, and the most wonderful, not to mention beautiful, wife in the world!"

"Oh, Fred, stop exaggerating!" Lou shouted, giggling.

"No, I mean it, Phoebe!" Gobo shouted. "Who could ask for anything more?"

Gobo and Lou didn't realize it, but they were under a spell. The spell made them think their names were Fred and Phoebe Fraggle, and that they were newlyweds. They had forgotten everything about their old lives, Fraggle Rock, their friends, and their mission.

Lou got up, and walked over to the window, smiling, but her smile soon faded.

"What's the matter, Phoebe?" Gobo asked.

"I had a strange dream last night," Lou said.

"Really? So did I. There was this little green Fraggle in it, wearing a banana tree shirt."

"Yes, I saw him in my dream, too! And he was with four other Fraggles, and one of them looked like you, Fred! Suddenly, he disappeared."

"And there was this strange female creature in the dream, too. She carried a crystal ball . . . ."

"And she didn't look very nice, either. I'd better find my dream journal and write this down."

Lou walked over to an alcove by a stained glass window, and picked up a book. She wrote down the details of her dream, and when she closed it, a crystal ball appeared on the floor.

"Where did that come from?" she asked.

"I don't know," Gobo said. "It just suddenly appeared."

Gobo and Lou approached the crystal ball, and an image appeared in it. There were three Fraggles, and a large mound of trash in it.

"Gobo! Lou!" a yellow Fraggle with bushy red pigtails shouted. "Finally! Hey you guys, we did it!"

"Oh thank goodness!" a mauve-colored Fraggle with turquoise hair shouted. "We didn't think we'd ever find you!"

"Are you guys all right?" a blue Fraggle with red hair covering his eyes asked. "You're not hurt are you? You're not laying somewhere at death's door, are you?"

"Where are you two, anyway?" the pigtailed asked.

It was Red, Mokey, Boober, and Marjory the Trash Heap. Marjory had found a crystal ball among her orange peels, coffee grounds, and other assorted items, and she and the three Fraggles had been trying to establish contact with Gobo and Lou. Since Gobo and Lou were under a weird spell, they had no idea what was going on. They looked at each other, and Gobo went to take the crystal ball, but a ring of fire shot up around it.

"Where did that fire come from?!" Lou shouted.

"I don't know," Gobo said, grabbing a pitcher of water from a shelf. "But we have to put it out before our treehouse burns down! Stand back!"

Gobo threw the water onto the flames, and put the fire out. Then he picked up the crystal ball and looked inside of it.

"Hmmm," he said. "These are the Fraggles that were in my dream."

"Yeah," Lou said. "Mine, too."

"Looks like our 'friend' is up to her old tricks," the Trash Heap said. "Nevertheless, you can't let that stop you."

"Stop us from what?" Lou asked.

"From finding Wembley, of course!" Red shouted. "Don't you remember?"

"Wembley?" Gobo asked. "Who's Wembley?"

"Oh come on, Gobo!" Red shouted. "This is no time for jokes! You and Lou are out there looking for Wembley, remember?!"

"I think you have us confused with somebody else," Gobo said. "My name is Fred, not Gobo. And my wife's name is Phoebe, not Lou. And neither of us know anybody named Wembley!"

"Your _wife?!_ " Red shouted. " _What_?! How could you marry _her_?! Ooooohhh, Gobo, when you get back to Fraggle Rock, I'm gonna pound you so hard, you're gonna feel it for the next twenty Fraggle moons!"

Gobo rolled his eyes, put the crystal ball down, and left the room. Lou followed, feeling extremely confused.

"What were those Fraggles talking about?" she asked.

"Beats me," Gobo said, shrugging. "But why were they calling us Gobo and Lou? Gobo's such a dumb name!"

"Hey, you two!" Red shouted, as the crystal ball rolled out of the bedroom. "Why are you guys still hanging around that house?"

"Yeah, Wembley's still out there somewhere!" Mokey shouted.

"Just ignore them, Phoebe," Gobo said. "Maybe they'll go away."

Lou nodded, and she and Gobo headed for the door in the floor to exit the tree house, when it suddenly closed. The mat that covered it disappeared as well, and so did the door. A nearby door slammed shut as well, and the handle disappeared.

"What the . . . ." Gobo said. "What happened?!"

"I don't know," Lou said

"Looks like you two are going to have to fend off more of Lilith's magic before you can leave," Marjory said.

"This is all too confusing," Gobo said. He picked up the handle to the other door, and put it in place, but it was still locked.

"Where did you put the key to the sewing room, Fred?" Lou asked.

"I don't remember," Gobo said, looking around the room. He spotted a key on a nearby shelf, and grabbed it. "But here's a key up here. Is this it?"

Lou took the key, and unlocked the sewing room with it. She and Gobo entered the room, and found the missing mat. The minute she touched it, the mat tore apart, and the sewing machine in the room broke apart as well.

"This is weird," Gobo said.

"It's like somebody doesn't want us to fix the mat," Lou said.

"Well, the machine doesn't look too badly damaged," Gobo said. "It's just missing two wheels and a belt."

"The drawers are locked," Lou said, trying to open the drawers on the table. "Find the keys for me, would you, love?"

"Certainly, darling," Gobo said, as he took two pieces of the torn mat from the wall. He also found two keys, and handed them to Lou. She tried one, but it was too small.

"No, that won't work," she said. "I think this one goes to my bedroom chest."

"I'll check it out for you if you want, dear," Gobo said.

"Thank you, honey," Lou said.

"Hey, knock off the terms of endearment, you guys!" Red shouted. "It's making me sick!"

Both Gobo and Lou ignored Red, as Lou put the other key into one of the drawers, and Gobo left the room. Lou was able to unlock the drawer, and found one of the sewing machine's wheels inside of it.

Gobo went back to the bedroom, and unlocked a chest with the small key he had found. Inside the chest, he found a piece of the mat. He also found the other missing wheel from the sewing machine on the other side of the room, as well as another key. Then he left the bedroom, and went down the hall to the sewing room. On his way, he saw the sewing machine's belt laying on the floor.

"Oh good!" he shouted, picking it up. "Phoebe will be so happy! She's never happier than when she's sewing!"

Gobo walked into the sewing room with the items he collected, and put them down on the table.

"Look what I found!" he sang.

"Oh, Fred!" Lou exclaimed happily. "You found the parts to my sewing machine so we can fix it! Oh, you're so wonderful!"

Lou leaned over to give Gobo a kiss, but she stopped, when she heard Red growling.

"Lou, if you kiss him, I'm gonna knock your block off!" she shouted.

"Hostile, isn't she?" Lou asked.

"Very," Gobo said, rolling his eyes.

Red growled again, ready to kill both Gobo and Lou. Mokey put her hands on her best friend's shoulders, and tried to calm her down.

"Now, Red, calm down," she said. "This is no time to be jealous."

"Mokey," Red said, calmly.

"Yes?"

"CAN IT!"

Mokey removed her hands from Red's shoulders, and backed up a little. While Gobo put the sewing machine back together, Lou unlocked the other drawer, and found the fourth piece of the mat. Once the machine was fixed, Lou placed a spool of thread on the top of the machine, took two pieces of the mat, and sewed them together. Then she sewed the third and fourth pieces back together again.

"There we are!" she shouted, holding up the completed mat. "Good as new!"

"Good," Marjory said. "Now put it back where it belongs, and I'm sure the door will reappear."

Lou and Gobo took the mat to the hall, and placed it where it belonged. The minute they did, their trapdoor reappeared, and they immediately left the treehouse as fast as they could. Leaving the crystal ball in the treehouse.

"Hey, don't forget the crystal ball!" Red shouted. "Take us with you!"

"I don't think so," Gobo said. "You're a little too hostile for us! Come on, Phoebe."

Red growled again. She wanted to punch Gobo so badly.

"I swear, the minute he gets back here . . . ." she said, as calmly as she could. Then she began screaming. "I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"

"Calm down, little Fraggle," Marjory said. "It's obvious those two are under some kind of spell. Lilith must have cast it on them to make them forget everything."

"Can't you break it?" Mokey asked. "After all, you're an oracle!"

"Unfortunately, I can't," Marjory said. "There's nothing I can do unless they find out how to break it themselves."

"Oh no!" Boober shouted. "They're doomed to forget all about us and about Wembley! And that means Wembley is doomed, too!"

Red groaned, and was about to bop Boober in the head, but Mokey stopped her. She had a feeling she was going to have her hands full trying to calm her friends down.

"I have a feeling it's going to be a very long day," she sighed.


	16. Memories

When Gobo and Lou climbed down their treehouse ladder, Lou saw a piece of paper tacked to the bottom of the tree.

"Go through the gateway and make a potion at the Herbalist's House to remember," she said.

"What?" Gobo asked.

"That's what this note says. What does it mean?"

"I don't know. This is all so confusing!"

Before the two Fraggles could do anything else, a strange door popped up from underneath the ground, and began glowing. Gobo and Lou stared at it.

"What in the world is that?" Gobo asked.

"Hey down there!" Marjory called from inside the treehouse. "That's a Nexus portal! But how did you two open it?"

"You got me!" Gobo called back. "Think we should go through it, Phoebe?"

"Well, the note says to go through the gateway," Lou said, shrugging. "So let's go."

The two Fraggles were about to head for the nexus, when suddenly, the ground began shaking. Gobo and Lou were knocked off their feet, and a huge chasm was created, blocking the two Fraggles from the Nexus.

"Oh no!" Lou shouted. "What are we going to do now?"

"I don't know," Gobo said, looking around. He noticed a stump nearby, and different colored rocks scattered everywhere. "Hey, weren't these colored rocks on that stump over there?"

"Yeah, I think they were," Lou said. "Maybe we should gather them up and put them back on the stump. Something is telling me that might help."

Gobo nodded, and he and Lou collected four blue rocks, three purple rocks, and one red rock. They walked over to the stump, and found eight circles, with different shapes in front of them. There was one triangle, three squares, and four plus signs. Gobo put the red rock where the triangle was, the purple rocks where the squares were, and the blue rocks where the plus signs were. As soon as the stones were in place, a bridge appeared, allowing Gobo and Lou to cross over to the nexus safely. When they walked through it, they found themselves in a mechanical room. Doors lined the walls. There was a strange device in the middle of it with a note on it.

"Pull the lever and unlock the entrance to the Herbalist's House," Gobo read. "Use the Dream Jewels to unlock the door. You think these notes are really meant for us?"

"Even though this may sound strange, Fred," Lou said. "I feel like they are."

"Okay, then, I'll pull the lever."

Gobo pulled the lever, and the doors shifted. The door that stopped was blank, but there were three colored gems above it. A strange device next to the lever opened. The two Fraggles ran over to it and looked at it. Suddenly, two gold medallions appeared in the Fraggles' hands. One was shaped like a tree, and had two blue gems, and one red gem in it. The other was circular with three pumpkins on it, with two blue gems and a yellow gem.

"What are these?" Lou asked.

"I wonder if they're the Dream Jewels the note mentioned?" Gobo asked. "Look at the gems on top of the gateway. Two are blue, and one is orange. And if I remember correctly, yellow and red make orange. And it looks like this device has spaces for them. Why don't we give it a try?"

Lou shrugged, and put her Dream Jewel on the machine, as did Gobo. Then Gobo began pushing buttons which turned the gems until he aligned them correctly, so that there would be two blue gems on the bottom, and one orange gem on the top when the Dream Jewels were moved toward the center of the device. Once they were positioned correctly, an image of a house appeared above the door, and a light began glowing from inside of it.

That must be it," Gobo said. "Come on, Phoebe. Let's see what this is about."

The two Fraggles stepped through the gateway, and looked around. Gobo looked at the first note again.

"I wonder if this is the Herbalist's House?" he asked. "The one where we're supposed to make a potion?"

"Probably," Lou said, walking over to another room. She tried to turn on the light, but the switch wouldn't work.

"Darn it," she grumbled. "Maybe there's something outside that can help."

Gobo nodded, and he and Lou went out the back door to check things out. The minute they were outside, the door slammed shut behind them, and a huge gust of wind sprayed dirt all over it. When it finally cleared, Gobo looked at it, and all he could see was dirt.

"I don't even know where the handle is anymore!" he shouted.

"We'll have to clean it in order to open it again," Lou said. "But I wonder why someone would want to keep us out?"

"Well, dear, we _are_ trespassing, after all."

Gobo and Lou looked around the yard. They found a windmill with blades missing, a bucket, and an empty water tank. Lou found some of the blades, and began picking them up.

"What are you doing that for?" Gobo asked.

"Maybe if we fix the windmill, the tank will fill up," Lou said. "Be a love and help me out."

"Of course, sweetheart," Gobo said, and he began to help Lou gather up the windmill blades.

Along with the windmill blades, Lou also gathered up some clear gems laying about the ground. They were so pretty, she just couldn't leave them laying there. Gobo saw her do this, and smiled.

"Once we're finished with this bizarre quest, Phoebe," he said, "I'll take those gems and make a necklace out of them for you."

"Oh, Fred, you're so sweet!" Lou shouted.

Gobo walked over to the gate, and pushed it open. He and Lou walked through it and found a garden. In it, they found large sunflowers blooming, some eggplants, and a couple of green pumpkins. A scarecrow was guarding over everything. Lou also picked up some more gems.

"Oh, how lovely," Lou said, looking at the sunflowers.

"Yeah, these pumpkins sure look good, too," Gobo said. "Won't be long before they're ripe! Anyway, I think we've got all of the blades now. Let's go put them back on the windmill."

The two Fraggles walked back through the gate, and over to the windmill. Gobo climbed up, and Lou handed him the blades. Once they were in place, Gobo fastened a nut he had found into the center, and they began turning. Quickly, the water tank began to fill. Lou took the bucket they had found and filled it up. Then she threw the water onto the door, washing away the dirt. The minute the door was cleaned, half of the pumpkin on the front of the door disappeared.

"Oh brother," Gobo groaned. "Now what do we do?"

"I suppose we could use the scarecrow's pumpkin head as a replacement," Lou said.

"Very clever of you, my dear," Gobo said. "Let's go get it!"

The two Fraggles ran back to the garden, and tried to take the pumpkin off the pole it was resting on, but it was stuck. Gobo found a hammer, and gave it a whack. That did it. The pumpkin fell off, and broke in half.

"That should do it," he said.

"Yes, but look at the scarecrow's pretty dress," Lou said. "It's ripped."

"I'm sure you can fix it, darling," Gobo said. "But later. Right now, we have to figure out what to do about this potion in the note."

Lou nodded, and followed Gobo back to the front yard. He stuck the pumpkin half in the door, and it unlocked. They walked into the kitchen, and Lou flipped the switch. The lights came on, and the two Fraggles looked around. They saw a book on the counter, and immediately opened it.

"Guide to practical potions," Gobo said. "Unfortunately, the words are all mixed up."

"Look what it says on this page," Lou said. We have to set up the kitchen first. And to do that, we need to light a fire under the cauldron, and prepare liquid floral essence."

"Well, here's a match. What does it say about floral essence?"

"We need to crush red rose petals, and put them in the right tank. Then we have to crush sunflower petals, and put them in the middle tank. Then we have to crush lavender and put it in the left tank, and add water to all of the tanks."

"Shouldn't be too hard. At least these jars are labeled so we know what's in them!"

Gobo lit the fire while Lou gathered the rose petals, sunflower petals, and lavender, and crushed them, and put them in the tanks, one at a time. After that, Gobo filled the tanks with water. Then they went to check the book. The words unscrambled themselves.

"Quick ripen potion," Gobo read, "Instant growth potion, and memory recovery potion. Didn't the note say something about making a potion to remember something?"

"I guess this is what it meant," Lou said. "But maybe we should make all of the potions, just in case. We'll start with the quick ripen potion."

"Right. After all, you never know when you're going to need to ripen an unripe vegetable!"

Gobo turned to the page for the quick ripen potion, and noticed some words were missing on the right side of the page, and they were mixed up on the left side of the page.

"Well, isn't this a fine how do you do," he said.

"Don't worry, dear," Lou said. "I can figure this out."

"Of course, honey. I forgot, you're great at solving word puzzles."

Lou picked up a pencil, and began working. Within minutes, she had the whole thing solved.

"Add, in this order," she read, "orange peel, sunflower liquid essence, rose petal liquid essence, and crushed lemongrass. I'll crush the lemongrass while you add the other ingredients."

"No sooner said than done," Gobo said, and he got to work putting the needed ingredients in the glass on the table. Once everything was in, Lou added the crushed lemongrass, and poured the concoction into the bottle.

"Next, is the instant growth potion," she said. "And it's about as mixed up as the other one was. Oh well. Here we go."

Lou began unmixing up the words. Before she read them off, she went to the memory recovery potion page to unmix those words as well, while she was thinking about it.

"Okay, for the instant growth potion," she said, "we need heated sunflower petals . . . ."

"Crushed or uncrushed?" Gobo asked.

"Uncrushed. After the sunflower petals comes heated and crushed juniper berries, then lavender liquid essence, and finally a drop of rainwater. Where do we get that?"

"I saw wet umbrella out in the hall. I'll go get it while you're mixing the potion."

Lou nodded, and began mixing the ingredients. Gobo returned just as she added the lavender liquid essence. He held the umbrella to the glass, and a drop of rainwater slid into it. Then he poured the potion in an empty bottle.

"Okay, now for the final potion," he said.

"For that one," Lou said, "we need a freshly cut grey rose, crushed orange peel, lavender liquid essence, heated lemongrass, crushed bitter aloe, and crushed and heated juniper berries."

"Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any gray roses here. But here are some gray rose seeds. Maybe we can plant one using the instant grow potion."

Gobo took a handful of seeds, and took them outside. Lou followed with the instant growth potion. They dug a hole, put the seeds in, and covered it up. Just as Lou was about to open the potion bottle, a big, black tree creature dove down, and ate them.

"Hey!" Gobo shouted.

"We'll never be able to grow that rose we need if that tree creature eats the seeds!" Lou shouted. "Maybe we should put the scarecrow back together."

"We're gonna need a pumpkin for that," Gobo said. "And these pumpkins aren't ready yet."

"They might be with the quick ripen potion."

Lou handed Gobo the instant growth potion, and took out the quick ripen potion instead. She opened it, and poured it on the biggest one of the unripe pumpkins. It ripened into a big, fat, bright orange pumpkin in an instant.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Gobo asked, as he pulled the pumpkin out of the ground.

"What?" Lou asked, as she tied the horizontal post against the vertical one so they could rest the pumpkin on it.

"The scarecrow's dress is torn."

"Oh. Well, I'm sure I can fix it if we can get back to the tree house. We'd better go through the Nexus thing and see if we can get back."

Gobo shrugged, and set the pumpkin on the post. He didn't have any better ideas, so he decided to go along with Lou on that one.

When they reached the Nexus, they saw that a second lever appeared to the right of the strange device. Gobo pulled it, and the doors moved, only in the opposite direction, allowing the gateway to the treehouse to come back. Immediately, they went through it. When they tried to climb up the ladder to their treehouse, the steps disappeared, and reappeared, scattered all over the place.

"What is going on here?!" Gobo shouted. "Who's doing this to us?! What did we do to deserve this?!"

"You got married, that's what you did!" Red's voice called from the crystal ball inside the treehouse.

"Oh really, Red!" Mokey shouted.

"Sounds like the Fraggles and the talking trash pile inside the glass ball are still there," Lou said, as she began gathering up the wooden sticks that made up the ladder.

"Yeah," Gobo said. "Maybe if we keep ignoring them, they'll go away."

"Very funny, Gobo!" Red shouted.

Gobo and Lou ignored Red, and began returning the steps to their proper place. Then they climbed up the ladder, and went to the sewing room with the scarecrow's torn dress. Lou placed it on the sewing machine, and pressed the pedal.

"Oh, that's a lovely dress," Mokey said, as the crystal ball rolled into the sewing room just as Lou was finishing. "But I don't really think it's your style, Lou."

"My name isn't Lou, it's Phoebe," Lou said. "And it's not for me, it's for the scarecrow in the garden."

"If you'll excuse us," Gobo said, and he and Lou left again.

"Oh no you don't!" Red shouted. "You're gonna take us with you this time!"

"I really don't think . . . . ."

"NOW, BUSTER!"

"Okay, okay! Sheesh!"

Gobo picked up the crystal ball, and he and Lou climbed down the ladder, and went back through the nexus. When they were inside, Gobo pulled the left lever to get back to the Herbalist's House. When they got there, Gobo put the crystal ball on the counter in the kitchen, and grabbed another handful of grey rose seeds, while Lou went out to the garden to fix the scarecrow.

"We'll be right back," Gobo said. "Now don't go away."

"Where would we go, anyway?" Boober asked. "Although going back to Fraggle Rock doesn't sound like a bad idea right about now."

By the time Gobo made it to the garden, the scarecrow was fixed, and Lou had already dug the hole. Gobo put the seeds in, took the shovel, and covered it, while Lou took the instant growth potion out of her smock pocket, opened it, and poured it. Immediately, a grey rosebush grew. Gobo plucked one, and the two of them went back to the kitchen, and went to work.

"What are you guys making?" Boober asked.

"A memory recovery potion," Gobo said, as Lou mixed the potion. "We got a note saying to make one to remember."

"Did you send them any notes, Madam Heap?" Mokey asked.

"No, I didn't," Marjory said. "But a memory recovery potion sounds like a good idea."

"Well, down the hatch," Lou said, pouring half of the potion into another glass.

"Here's looking at you," Gobo said.

The two Fraggles clinked glasses, and drank the potion. Then, they choked, whistled, and snapped rigid.

"Hmm, it has the same effect as Boredom Juice," Red said. "You sure you guys didn't make Boredom Juice?"

Gobo and Lou didn't answer. They just stood there, but something was happening. Images of their memories were flashing before them, ending with the mission they were on, right before they woke up that morning. When it was over, the two Fraggles began coming out of their trances.

"Whoa," Gobo said. "What happened?"

"Where are we?" Lou asked.

"Gobo, Lou?" Mokey asked. "Are you guys okay?"

Gobo and Lou looked around, and spotted the crystal ball on the table. They looked through it, and saw their friends.

"Hi, Mokey!" Gobo shouted. "Yeah, we're okay, just a little confused. Why?"

"You _do_ remember us, don't you?" Boober asked. "And why you're out there?"

"Of course we do, Boober!" Lou shouted. "Gobo and I are all the way out here . . . . wherever here is . . . . to find Wembley!"

"It worked!" Red shouted. "Whoo hoo! They got their memories back!"

"What's going on, anyway?" Gobo asked.

"Before I answer you, I have one very important question to ask," Red said. "You two aren't _really_ married, are you?"

" _Mar_ ried?!" both Gobo and Lou shouted in unison. Then Gobo began laughing.

"Where'd you get a crazy idea like that, Red?" Gobo asked.

"You told us you were married," Boober said.

" _What_?!" Gobo shouted. " _Me_ marry _Lou_?! Ha, ha, ha, ha! That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard in my life! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"

Gobo was laughing so hard, he didn't notice Lou glaring at him, until he looked over at her. Once he saw the look on her face, he stopped laughing almost immediately. Lou looked like she wanted to kill him.

"And just what is so funny about that?" she asked.

"Nothing, nothing at all," Gobo said, quickly. "It's not ridiculous at all."

"WHAT?!" Red shouted.

"I didn't mean it like _that_ , Red!" Gobo shouted. "I mean, Lou's a nice Fraggle all right, but she's really not my type."

"What's been happening, anyway?" Lou asked.

"Sit down, we'll explain," Mokey said, and she, Red, Boober, and the Trash Heap began to explain the entire story.

"Wow," Gobo said, once they were finished. "Good thing we found that memory recovery potion!"

"I'll say," Lou said. "But one thing puzzles me. If the Trash Heap didn't leave those notes, then who did?"

"I guess you'll find out along the way, little Fraggles," Marjory said. "Unfortunately, the powers of my crystal are fading now. Who knows when we'll be able to communicate with each other again?"

"Before you go, can you tell us what these are?" Gobo asked, pulling out one of the medallions that he and Lou used to enter the Herbalist's House.

"Of course!" Marjory shouted. "Those are Dream Jewels! They will open up other gateways. And it looks like you've found several Dream Pieces, already! Good for you!"

"What, these?" Lou asked, reaching into her pocket, and pulling out a handful of the crystal gems she had found.

"Exactly!" the Trash Heap shouted. "You can use them to try to open the other doors. I hope you can find the Dream Jewels to put the pieces in, because they are no good without them."

"And they may be our only chance of finding Wembley," Gobo said. "Thanks, Madam Heap! Thanks, everybody!"

"Good luck, you two!" Mokey shouted. "And be careful!"

"Don't worry, Mokey," Gobo said. "We will! Nothing's gonna stop us from finding Wembley now!"


	17. The Telescope Room

Gobo and Lou were about to leave the Herbalist's House, when a drawer opened. Gobo reached inside, and found another note.

"Take this symbol and open a secret stairway near the Nexus device," he read, pulling what looked like a stick with a sphere on the top of it. "When you've accessed the grounds below the Nexus, you will be on your way to reaching Lilith and Wembley. Let's go, Lou!"

Immediately, Gobo and Lou raced out of the house and through the gateway to the Nexus device. Gobo put the stick on the floor, and a stairway opened up, leading downwards. The two Fraggles immediately ran down, and found a gigantic stone device, which looked somewhat like a stove. There was a note next to it.

"This ancient device can be used to forge the Dream Jewels that you'll need to open the next gateway where Lilith is hiding," Lou read. "Light the fire, and then try to find some gold that can be melted into molds to create the Dream Jewels. Gobo, what's gold?"

"A shiny, yellow, metal rock," Gobo explained, looking around. He spied a gold nugget on the ground and picked it up. "I think this is gold."

"Oh, it's so pretty!" Lou shouted. "And look, there are more Dream Pieces around here, too."

"Say, there's a house over there," Gobo said, pointing in the distance. "What say we mosey over there, and check it out, eh?"

"Okay. After you."

Gobo nodded, and walked over to the house, with Lou right behind him. The door was open when they got there, but immediately slammed shut before they could step inside. There were circles on the door with the symbols of the planets on them. They began swirling around, locking the door.

"Oh, rock beetles!" Gobo shouted, punching the door with his fist. He had actually pushed a button on the door, which moved some of the planet circles. When he realized this, he pushed another button, which moved some more of the circles, and a third button did the same thing.

"Hey, Lou!" he shouted. "I think I know a way to get in! Let's align these circles!"

Gobo immediately began pushing the buttons on the door, until the circles were perfectly aligned. Then they lit up, and the door opened. The two Fraggles walked inside, and looked around, but they couldn't see much, since it was so dark.

"Looks like there's a window up in the ceiling," Lou said, pointing. "Maybe we can open it to let in some more light."

Gobo climbed up the wall, and tried to pry the windows open, but they wouldn't budge. He took a closer look, and saw the window was controlled by a set of gears, and one was missing. He saw a panel on the wall that looked like it was missing a lever, too.

"This isn't easy, is it?" he asked.

"Well, here's a gear," Lou said, looking around the parts of the room she could see. "And here's a handle, or a lever, or something like that."

"Okay, let's put 'em in place."

Gobo took the gear, and stuck it in the window's mechanisms, while Lou stuck the lever into the panel on the wall. Then she pulled it, and the window opened. Sunlight poured in, allowing the two Fraggles to see everything in the room. There were shelves of books, models of the planets, and a huge telescope. Unfortunately, everything disappeared, and reappeared scattered around the floor. A ladder on the shelf had disappeared as well.

"Ooooohhhhhh . . . . ." Gobo growled, frustratedly. "Gosh dang it to blankety heck!"

" _What_?!" Lou asked, giving Gobo a weird look.

"I heard the Silly Creature from Outer Space say that once when he hit his finger with a hammer," Gobo said, shrugging. "I don't know what it means, but it sure seems like the right thing to say about now."

"Yeah, okay. If you say so. Come on and help me clean up."

Gobo agreed, and he and Lou began gathering planet models, gold nuggets, and Dream Pieces. Suddenly, Gobo found a strange looking gold round shape with a red center.

"What's this thing?" he asked.

"I don't know," Lou said. Maybe if we keep looking, we'll figure it out."

Gobo nodded, and began looking for the other missing planet models. On a hunch, he went outside to search. Lou found a key by the door, and a locked box in the room. She used the key to unlock the box, and found a book called "Magic and the Planets." She brought it over to a book stand, and opened it to see what it said.

"Arrange the eight planets on their proper shelves," she read. "Place the viewfinder on the telescope. Turn night into day and find what you seek in the sky. Once you have completed these steps, the stars will show you the way."

Lou looked on the other page, and saw that the text was completely scrambled again. She held her head in her hands and moaned.

"I don't know how much more of this I can take!" she shouted.

"What's wrong now?" Gobo asked, as he returned to the room carrying an armload of planet models.

"This book," Lou said. Gobo dropped the planets, and looked at the book.

"More scrambled words," he said, nodding. "Well, don't worry about that now, Lou. I found all the planet models, so let's start putting them back on the shelf, eh?"

"What's this?" Lou asked, picking up a gold disc with a red center, like the one they had found in the room. "Oh, another one of those weird disc things."

"Yeah, I think they go with the telescope," Gobo said. "But we've got to fix the ladder first, or else we won't be able to use that thing."

Lou nodded, and she and Gobo immediately began putting the planet models back on the shelves. As they did, the steps to the ladder began to return. The minute it was complete, Gobo ran up the ladder, and looked at the telescope.

"I hate to have to tell you this, Lou," he said, "but it's missing a piece."

" _ARGH_!" Lou shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"Whoop, wait a minute, I think I see it now," Gobo said, climbing down the ladder. He picked up a long, metallic tube laying against the shelf. Then he walked over to Lou, stood behind her, and started massaging her shoulders.

"It's frustrating," he said, calmly. "I know this is extremely frustrating. I know you feel like just dropping this whole thing, but we can't."

"I know we can't," Lou sighed. "I know we can't stop until we find Wembley, but all of these puzzles, and missing parts, and hidden objects, and . . . . . Gobo, I swear, I feel like I'm gonna lose it any minute!"

Gobo knew exactly how Lou felt. She was physically tired, and mentally exhausted. She looked like she was about to burst into tears any minute, due to the frustration she was feeling.

"Why don't you just sit down, and take a break?" he suggested. "I'll take care of the telescope, and then I'll take a look at the book, and then I'll figure out what to do next, okay?"

"Okay," Lou sighed, and she sat down on the floor, holding her head in her hands, trying to pull herself together.

Gobo climbed up the ladder, and attached the part to the telescope. He looked through it, and saw the sky and the clouds, but that was about it. He tried to turn it, but it was too heavy. He was going to need Lou to help him, but he figured now was not a good time to tell her that. He figured he'd wait until she had calmed down. Instead, he ran back down the ladder and over to the book.

"What the heck?" he asked, as the words began disappearing. Suddenly, they reappeared again, in the correct order.

"Hey, Lou, guess what?" he said. "We don't have to unscramble these! They just unscrambled themselves!"

"Let me see," Lou said. She stood up, and looked, and then heaved a sigh of relief. "Finally, something's going right!"

Gobo turned the page, and groaned. There were some more scrambled words on the next page, and several more on the other pages.

"Spoke too soon," he said. "Sorry, Lou."

Lou heaved a sigh, picked up a pencil, and got to work. It was about all she could do. When she finished, she turned to Gobo.

"Okay," she said, "we have to use the telescope to find constellations in the stars. When we find one, it will create a mold to make a Dream Jewel in a forge, which is probably that big stone thing we found outside when we walked down the stairs. To find the constellations, we have to use lenses for the telescope, and that's what these round things we found are. But there's one thing, we have to do it at night."

"We can't wait that long," Gobo said. "There's got to be another way."

"Yeah, there is. There's something in this book about turning day into night. But I don't understand it."

Lou turned to the page in question. Gobo looked at it. All that was on the pages were some planet symbols, and a diagram of the moon and the sun, though some of the circles on the diagram were blank. The planets were labeled. Gobo looked around the room, and found a similar diagram, with the planets filled in. Acting on a hunch, Gobo touched the symbol for Mercury in the book, and it appeared on the opposite page. Then he touched the one for Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, and they all appeared on the opposite page. The minute they did, it grew dark outside, and the stars came out.

"Yahoo!" Gobo shouted. "Now we're in business! Grab a lens, Lou, and come on up! I need your help turning this thing, it's heavy!"

Lou nodded, and took one of the lenses she and Gobo found up to the telescope. She climbed onto the telescope, loaded the lens in, and then went to the viewfinder to help Gobo find the constellation. When Gobo looked through the telescope, he found the lens had a series of stars on it.

"Okay, I get it," he said. "I have to match the stars of the lens with the stars in the sky. I have no idea how that's gonna create a mold, though."

"Magic is weird," Lou said.

The two Fraggles began moving the telescope back and forth across the sky. There were several constellations, and it took them awhile before they found the one that matched the lens. When they did, the telescope locked itself in it's position, and the mold appeared from out of nowhere.

"That's it!" Gobo shouted. "Go put in the next lens, Lou!"

Lou took the second lens, climbed onto the telescope, and switched them. Then she slid back down to Gobo, and they began maneuvering the telescope back and forth, until they locked on the constellation, and received the second mold. Gobo was so excited, he grabbed the two molds, ran down the ladder, and out the door before Lou could stop him.

"Gobo!" she shouted. "Wait a minute! It's night time out there! We won't be able to see if we don't turn night back into day!"

Lou ran out the door, and noticed that night turned back into day when she exited the telescope room. She was about to question how this could happen, when she remembered what she said earlier about magic being weird, so she decided to drop it. Instead, she went to the forge, where Gobo was putting logs into the bottom of the stove, and putting one of the molds into place.

"You wouldn't happen to have a match on you, would you?" he asked.

"No," Lou said, putting three of the Dream Pieces she found into the mold. "But I think I have an idea how to start a fire! Be right back!"

Lou ran back into the telescope room, and returned with a magnifying glass. She angled it towards the logs in order to catch the sun's rays. Finally, there was a spark, and a fire got going. Gobo took one of the gold nuggets he found and put it on the forge. It melted, and poured into the mold. As soon as it was cool enough, a Dream Jewel floated from it. It was in the shape of a sunflower, and had two red gems, and one blue gem. Gobo placed the next mold, and he and Lou repeated the steps to create a second Dream Jewel. This one had two yellow gems and one red gem, and was in the shape of a gear.

"I think that does it for now," Gobo said. "Let's take these up to the Nexus to open the next gateway!"


	18. Returning to the Castle

Gobo and Lou walked up the stairs and back to the Nexus. Gobo pulled the left lever, and the doors shifted. The colors on the top of the next one were red, green, and orange. Lou put their two new Dream Jewels on the device. She began to push the buttons to rotate them, until she got the combination correctly, and the gateway opened.

"And away we go," Gobo said, as he and Lou walked through the gateway.

Once they were through the gateway, the two Fraggles found themselves on the edge of a cliffside overlooking a large body of water. There were some telescope lenses, gold nuggets, and some Dream Pieces scattered around, and an island in the distance.

"I'll bet anything that's where Lilith's got Wembley!" Gobo shouted, gathering up some of the gold nuggets. "The question is how do we get over there."

"Here's another note," Lou said, picking up the telescope lenses. "To access the underwater retreat, place a Fairy amulet on the stone pillar here. Where are we going to get an amulet?"

"I don't know. But let's take the lenses to the telescope and make more molds, just in case we may need another Dream Jewel. Who knows? Maybe the amulet is somewhere in another gateway that needs to be unlocked!"

Lou couldn't argue with that, and followed Gobo back through the gateway. They returned to the telescope room with the two lenses, got the molds, and returned to the forge to make the Dream Jewels. One was in the shape of an eye, with one red gem, one yellow gem, and one blue gem. The other was a crescent moon and a star, with one blue gem, one yellow gem, and one clear gem.

"Think we should see where these will lead us with the Nexus?" Gobo asked.

"Why not?" Lou asked, shrugging. "We may see something that looks like a Fairy amulet along the way."

When the two Fraggles returned to the Nexus, Lou pulled the lever to switch the doors, and Gobo placed the two new Dream Jewels into the device. The colors above the gateway were green, purple, and red. Unfortunately, the two new Dream Jewels didn't offer that combination, no matter what they tried. So Gobo switched them out, and used the moon Dream Jewel with the gear Dream Jewel to play with. That did it. The two Fraggles opened the gateway and ran through it. They found themselves in the main hall of the castle in Fraggledonia.

"Whoa," Gobo said. "Who knew there was a secret magical tunnel in the castle!"

"Yeah, but what happened to the place?" Lou said, looking around. "It looks like it hasn't been cleaned in years! How long were we gone for?"

"Beats me," Gobo said. "Unless this is one of Lilith's tricks."

"Hello little Fraggles!" the voice of Marjory the Trash Heap called out. "You've returned!"

"Yeah, but not for long, Madam Heap," Gobo said, looking around but he couldn't see the Trash Heap anywhere. "One of the Nexus gateways brought us here. We're looking for a Fairy amulet."

"Ah ha," Marjory said. "I know where to find it, too. There's a hidden drawer in the stairs, but it needs a key. It should be in the left bedroom at the top of the stairs."

"Left bedroom at the top of the stairs," Lou said. "That's Wembley's room!"

"Come on!" Gobo shouted.

Gobo and Lou were about to race up the stairs, when suddenly, the tiles on the floor disappeared, and scattered around the room. Gobo groaned, and smacked his hand over his eyes.

"Of course," he said. "Of _course_ that would happen!"

"If I ever find Lilith, I'm going to punch her lights out," Lou grumbled, as she and Gobo collected the tiles.

Then they went up the stairs to check things out. Gobo went into his room, while Lou went to check Wembley's. Gobo looked around his room, and picked up the tiles. He also noticed his metal bed frame was rusty.

"We must have been gone longer than I thought," he said. "Either that, or we're in another dimension."

Gobo left the room, and went back downstairs. Lou joined him shortly afterwards.

"Well, there wasn't anything in Wembley's room at all," Lou said. "No tiles, or keys."

"Well, let's put the tiles back together anyway," Gobo said. "Maybe we'll get a clue to where exactly it is."

Lou nodded, and she and Gobo began placing the tiles on the floor. They had to turn them a couple of times, since they had to match the pattern with the other tiles. Once they got the tiles set correctly, the bottom step disappeared, and revealed a hidden drawer.

"Okay, now we have to go back to Wembley's room and find the key," Gobo said.

The two Fraggles went back up the stairs and into Wembley's room.

"Okay, now what?" Gobo asked.

"Unlock the chest," Marjory's voice said. "There's a mat in there, along with some of your friend's favorite things. You must place them on the mat, and the key will materialize."

Gobo and Lou looked at each other, and then shrugged. It was about all they could do at this point. Lou took the key to the chest, and unlocked it. Gobo rolled out the mat, and he and Lou began digging through the chest to see what they could find.

"Here's one of Wembley's spare banana tree shirts," Gobo said.

"Here's a piece of paper," Lou said. "Looks like a drawing he made of him, you, Mokey, Red, and Boober."

"And a picture that Mokey painted of the two of us. One of his wooden puppets he keeps here in Fraggledonia, a picture of you . . . . hey, I didn't know he still had this!"

"What?"

"His old squishy stuffed radish! Wonder what else he keeps in here?"

Gobo and Lou continued looking through the chest, and pulled out a set of bongo drums, a shiny, multi-colored rollie, and a rolled up piece of paper tied with a string. Gobo untied the string and unrolled it to reveal a drawing of two Fraggles holding hands that looked like it was drawn by a five-year-old. One was small and green with yellow hair wearing a banana tree shirt, and the other was tall and yellow with green hair in a ponytail wearing a dress with purple flowers on it. There were red hearts drawn around them, and the bottom of the picture had the words "I luv momie" written across it (though the "E" was backwards).

"You know what this is?" Gobo asked.

"What?" Lou said.

"It's a picture Wembley drew of him and his mom. I actually remember the day he drew it. It was the day before she left."

"He must have been very close to her."

Gobo nodded. He went back to the chest, and found that it was completely empty, so he and Lou put the items they found onto the mat. Once they were placed, a key magically materialized in the center. Gobo grabbed it, and he and Lou raced down the stairs. Gobo stuck the key into the lock, and opened the drawer. He pulled out a rock with a strange design carved into it.

"This must be it," he said. "Back to the Nexus!"

The two Fraggles returned to the Nexus and pulled the right lever in order to get the gateway back to the cliffside. Once they went through, Gobo took the amulet, and put it onto the pillar. Once it was there, an arch appeared, along with a winch, and a cable that ran across the arch to the island. A large gondola appeared next, and the door opened by itself.

"Wow," Gobo said. "That's pretty neat."

"Yeah," Lou said. "Come on, Gobo, I'm dying to see what's over there on that island!"

Gobo nodded, and he and Lou climbed into the gondola. The door closed, and it began to move along the cable to the island, slowly.

"I'm not sure what to expect when we get over there," Gobo said, "but I have a feeling we're getting close to where Wembley is!"

When the gondola stopped, Gobo and Lou climbed out, and found a huge door in the rock. Gobo contemplated it, while Lou gathered up some gold nuggets and Dream Pieces that were scattered around.

"This must lead to the underwater retreat the Trash Heap mentioned," Gobo said. "But how do you open the door?"

"Hey, Gobo!" Lou shouted, pulling a tear drop shaped stone out of the rock. "Look at this! It matches the shape on the door! I'll bet it's the key."

Gobo took the stone, and put it on the door. Unfortunately, the door didn't open, but the cover did. A series of lights lit up as musical notes played. Gobo groaned.

"A musical lock," he said. "And it's just like that chess puzzle at the Tower of Dreams!"

"Oh no," Lou groaned.

Gobo concentrated on the lights, and managed to play the correct sequence, unlocking the door. The two Fraggles walked down a flight of stairs, and looked around. There were a lot of twists and turns down there.

"Great," Gobo groaned. "Another labyrinth."

"Come on," Lou sighed. "We might as well get it over with."


	19. The Underwater Retreat

The two Fraggles walked down a corridor, and through another door. There was a table in the middle of the room with a tea set on it, but the minute the two Fraggles walked inside, the tea set disappeared. There were three other doors as well. The one in the center had a cover over the lock, like the door that led to the retreat did.

"What now?" Gobo asked.

"Let's take one door at a time," Lou suggested. "You want to split up?"

"No, I don't think that's such a good idea. We should stick together on this one. Let's start with the door on the left."

Lou nodded, and followed Gobo. When they reached the door, the lights played a musical sequence. Gobo repeated it, and the door opened. The two Fraggles went through it, and faced yet another labyrinth. They began walking down the corridors, until they found another door, only this time, it wasn't locked. When they entered the room, they found a reflecting pool, a large candelabra filled with colored candles, and several white candles all over the room. The colored candles disappeared when the Fraggles walked in.

"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Gobo asked no one in particular. "What is this place, anyway?"

"Maybe a meditation room," Lou said. "It looks like a place where you could sit around and meditate. Anyway, there might be some stuff in here we can use later. Such as this tea cup."

Gobo nodded, and he and Lou searched the room for other parts of the tea set, and maybe a stray candle. All they managed to find were some stray gold nuggets and Dream Pieces. Once they had everything they could collect, they left the room, and went back to the tea room to see what was on the other side of the door to the right. After unlocking the door with the musical light sequence, the two Fraggles went down another hallway of twists and turns until they found another door. They opened it, and found a strange xylophone, which (of course) broke into pieces when they entered.

"Come on, Lou," Gobo sighed. "We'd better fix this if we want to get anywhere."

"Right," Lou said. "At least some of the missing pieces to the tea set are here. As well as the candles."

Lou gathered up the candles and the missing parts of the tea set, while Gobo gathered the parts to the xylophone and fixed it. As he was putting it back together, he noticed something.

"Hey, Lou!" he shouted. "Look at this, it looks like there are some spoons, a teapot, and a candle stuck inside these glass balls! How do you think we can get them out?"

"Maybe by playing a tune on the xylophone," Lou said, shrugging.

"Worth a shot," Gobo said, and he began to press the seashells attached to the xylophone, which worked the mallets.

Gobo played five different tunes, and the items in the spheres materialized. He and Lou took them, and they left the music room in order to return to the tea room.

"Wait a minute, Gobo," Lou said. "Maybe we should do the meditation room before we put the tea set back on the table. We're missing a plate."

"But we looked all over the meditation room, and it wasn't there," Gobo said.

"Yeah, I know, but call it a hunch, okay?"

"Okay. Let's go."

Gobo and Lou put what they found of the tea set on the cushions for the time being, and went through the door that led to the meditation room with the colored candles. When they placed them onto the candelabra, they melted, and a plate materialized.

"I had a feeling that would happen," Lou said. "Back to the tea room."

The two Fraggles immediately returned to the tea room, and gathered up the items. Gobo put the tea pot in the center of the table, and noticed that there were three purple shapes on the table surrounding it: a square, a triangle, and a circle.

"What do you make of it, Lou?" he asked.

"Hmmm," Lou said, studying the plate they had found in the meditation room. "This has triangles on it. And so does this cup, and this spoon. I don't think it takes a genius to figure out this one."

"Exactly," Gobo said, picking up a plate that had squares on it.

Gobo put the plate down in front of the purple square on the table, and then took the matching cup and spoon, and placed the cup on the plate, and the spoon in a carved space for it. Lou did the same with the square and the circle dishes. Once they were in place, a stone tear drop appeared from out of nowhere. Gobo then picked up the teapot, and poured the tea into to of the cups. He picked one up, while Lou picked up the other.

"Here's to a job well done!" he shouted. "Cheers!"

Gobo and Lou clinked their teacups, and drank the tea. Gobo immediately noticed the taste.

"Hey, this is radish tea!" he shouted. "There are only two creatures I know of that drink radish tea, and those are Fraggles and Gorgs! And there's no way a Gorg could fit in here!"

"Maybe Fairies drink radish tea, too," Lou said, shrugging.

"Maybe, but somehow, I don't think so. I'm positive we're getting even closer to Wembley now!"

Gobo took the tear drop shaped stone, and put it on the cover of the door in the middle of the room. Once it raised, a musical light sequence played, and Gobo repeated it, unlocking the door. The two Fraggles walked through and found themselves face to face with yet _another_ maze. Both of them groaned.

"Really, Lilith?" Gobo asked, looking up at the ceiling. " _Really_? Boy, she must really like mazes!"

"Come on, we'd better find the next door," Lou said.

The two Fraggles began walking down the next set of corridors. They took several turns, until they came across a room that had a line of fish on the ceiling and the floor, and they were blowing out steam.

"We'll never get through that, unless we want to end up like Boober's steamed vegetable medley!" Gobo shouted.

"Here are a couple of valves," Lou said. "You take the left wall, I'll take the right wall!"

"And I'll be in Scotland beforrrrrrre ya!" Gobo sang. "La da dah, la da dah, la da dah, la da dah . . . . ."

"Gobo, the Trash Heap already did that. And I still don't think it's funny."

"Sorry."

Lou and Gobo went to their valves and turned them. It took some maneuvering, as well as finding out there were some other valves that controlled the steam jets, but the two Fraggles managed to turn them off, clearing the path.

"Hopefully, this is the last of it," Gobo said.

"Let's go!" Lou shouted, and she and Gobo ran down the corridor, leading to another labyrinth.

"Here we go again," Gobo sighed.

Gobo and Lou walked down the hallways, finding themselves in some dead ends, and ending up back in the steam room. It was enough to drive them both out of their minds.

"If Lilith wasn't a girl, I'd belt her right across the chops," Gobo grumbled, as he and Lou reached another dead end.

"Let me handle that, Gobo," Lou said. "If we ever find her, that is."

The two Fraggles continued searching the labyrinth, and they were getting more and more frustrated while doing it.

"I think we're going around in circles again," Lou said, as she and Gobo reached another dead end.

"I wish we had a map," Gobo said. "Or at least had a landmark or something. Everything here looks the same!"

Gobo and Lou took another couple of turns, and found themselves right back at the steam room. Both of them groaned, and turned around to try again. After what seemed like an eternity, the two Fraggles came to a door.

"How much you want to bet this is the door to the tea room?" Gobo asked.

"I don't know," Lou said. "What makes you think that, anyway?"

"We've been turned around so much, I don't even remember where we started!"

"Well, there's only one way to find out if we're back to where we started. Open it, Gobo."

Gobo nodded. He took a deep breath, opened the door, and took a look inside.

"Well, it's not the tea room," he said. "I can tell you that."

Gobo was about to go inside, but he hesitated. Somehow, he was too nervous to continue.

"I'm getting butterflies in my stomach," he said.

"Me too," Lou said. "I don't know if I even want to look."

"Me neither. But, we have to. For Wembley's sake!"

Lou nodded. She and Gobo held each other's hands, and stepped through the door, nervously, not knowing what to expect.

Once inside the room, Gobo and Lou looked around. There was a gateway to the Nexus there, as well as a pond of water, and a small bridge leading to a glass room. Inside the room there was a figure sleeping peacefully inside.

"Hmph," Gobo growled. "Where was that gateway when we needed it?"

"Forget it, Gobo," Lou said. "Look in that glass room over there. Is that Lilith sleeping in it?"

"I can't tell," Gobo said. "Let's get closer."

Gobo and Lou walked across the bridge to the glass room, but they saw the door was closed, and locked. Gobo looked at the figure sleeping inside, and gasped.

"Oh my gosh!" he shouted. "I . . . . I can't believe it! I don't believe what I'm seeing!"

"Is it Lilith?" Lou asked.

"No! It's . . . . it's Wini!"

" _What_?!"

Lou looked into the glass room, and saw that the figure sleeping in the bed was indeed a female yellow Fraggle, with green hair in a ponytail, held with a purple tropical flower. The flower in her hair matched the flowers printed on her white muumuu. She looked exactly like the picture the two Fraggles had found in Lilith's mansion, and her color scheme matched the drawing they had found in Wembley's trunk at the castle.

"What's Wembley's mother doing all the way down here?" Lou asked.

"I don't know, but we're going to find out!" Gobo shouted. "We've got to figure out a way to unlock this door!"

Gobo looked through the keyhole, but it was blocked. He also saw a piece of paper on the floor, right next to the door. He thought it over a little, and then snapped his fingers.

"I know what to do," he said. "I think the key is in the keyhole on the other side. We just have to stick something in there to knock it out onto the paper in there, and then reach in and pull the paper, and the key out."

Gobo took his tail, licked his hand, and began to smooth his balloobious, until it was straight. Then he stuck the tip of it into the keyhole, knocking the key out onto the piece of paper. Then he reached under the door, and pulled it out.

"What's this?" he asked.

While Gobo was contemplating the piece of paper, Lou took the key, and unlocked the door to the glass room, and ran inside. She shook Wini's shoulder to wake her up, but she was in such a deep sleep, nothing Lou could do would wake her up.

"She must be under that same sleeping spell Wembley's under," she said.

"Well, I think I found a way to wake her up," Gobo said. "This is a recipe for a waking potion. And it looks like it was torn out of the Herbalist's spell book. Let's use the gateway to go to the Herbalist's House, make the potion, and come back here to wake Wini up. I'm dying to know where she's been all these years!"

The two Fraggles ran though the gateway into the Nexus. Gobo began to pull the right lever about three times in order to bring the Herbalist's House gateway back. Once it appeared, the two ran through it, and into the kitchen. Gobo put the page back into the book, and another page appeared next to it, which only turned out to be a page of a bunch of scrambled words.

"Of course," Gobo sighed. "Just like the other potions."

"I'm on it," Lou said, picking up a nearby pencil. She quickly unscrambled the words, and turned to Gobo.

"Okay, here's what we need," she said. "Lavender liquid essence, crushed grey rose seeds, heated bitter aloe, crushed juniper berries, and orange peel."

"Gotcha!" Gobo shouted.

The two Fraggles gathered their ingredients and got to work. Once they had the potion ready, they poured it into a glass, and ran back to the Nexus. Gobo pulled the left lever until they got back to the bedroom in the underwater retreat. Thankfully, it was unlocked, so they wouldn't have to try to use the Dream Jewels to unlock it. Once they returned, they walked into the glass room. Lou raised Wini into an upright position, and Gobo gave her the potion. A strange noise was heard, and four telescope lenses appeared from out of nowhere. Wini yawned, sat up, and stretched. Then she looked at Gobo and Lou.

"Hello," she said.

"Hi," Gobo said. "Listen, you may not remember me, but I'm . . . ."

"Gobo!" Wini shouted. "Of course I remember you! You're Nelson and Marli Fraggle's son, and Matt Fraggle's nephew!"

"Right," Gobo said. "Oh, this is Lou."

"Hello, Lou," Wini said. "You're Vaugner and Cheryl Fraggle's daughter, right?"

"That's right," Lou said.

"I'm glad to see you two finally made it," Wini said.

"Wait a minute, you've been expecting us?" Gobo asked.

"Yes," Wini said. "I was starting to think you wouldn't be able to find the notes I left for you."

"You were the one who left the notes?" Lou asked.

"Yes, I had to lead you here somehow," Wini said. "I found out that the Fraggles' oracle, the Trash Heap, wasn't always a trash heap. She used to be a Fairy before Lilith, the Fairy Queen of Dreams, turned her into a trash heap, because she questioned the Dream Librarian about . . . ."

"Hold it," Gobo said. "Who's the Dream Librarian?"

"She was an assistant to the Fairy Lord," Wini said. "And the Fairy Lord ruled over the Fairy Realm, but he mysteriously vanished several years ago, and the Dream Librarian knew the time had come for the prophecy to be fulfilled."

"What prophecy?" Lou asked.

"There's a Fairy prophecy that states a being conceived by Fairy magic will become the next Fairy Lord," Wini explained. "Both The Dream Librarian _and_ Lilith knew this was how Wembley was conceived, so they worked together in order to bring him here, because the Dream Librarian thinks Wembley is the one to be the Fairy Lord! We have to stop her!"

"I'll say we do!" Lou shouted. "That kind of responsibility is too much to expect from Wembley!"

"I know," Wini said. "I tried to tell Lilith that, and she actually agreed with me, but the Dream Librarian wouldn't listen."

"You mean Lilith _isn't_ behind all of this?" Gobo asked.

"No, she's under orders from the Dream Librarian," Wini said. "Believe me, she is not happy about the idea of taking orders from a Fraggle! That's why I sent those notes to you, Gobo. I can't do anything about it, because I'm magically bound from seeing Wembley. The best I can do is enter his dreams, but that won't do any good. Please, Gobo, please say you'll help!"

"How can we be sure this isn't a trick?" Lou asked. "After all, she _did_ just abandon Wembley when he was five years old and never came back. If she's been here all this time, how do we know she isn't working for Lilith?"

"We don't," Gobo said. "But we don't have any other choice. Wini, I believe you, and I'll help you! Wembley's my best friend, after all."

"Okay," Lou said. "I'm in, too. If only for Wembley's sake."

"Oh thank you, Gobo!" Wini cried happily, giving Gobo the biggest hug she could muster. "Thank you so much! Now in order to get Wembley back, it's going to take some powerful magic."

"We can handle that," Gobo said. "Just tell us what we need to do."

"You need make a potion at the Herbalist's House," Wini explained. "It will help you retrieve the Fraggle doll I made for Wembley when he was a baby."

"I know the one you mean," Gobo said. "He sleeps with it almost every night."

"Here's the recipe for the potion," Wini said, giving a piece of paper to Lou. "You'll be able to find the doll at the Eternal Tree. You can reach it through the Nexus, but you might want to make some more Dream Jewels. When you have the doll, go back to the Fraggledonian castle, and put it near the place where you found the amulet. Unfortunately, I can't tell you why. I may have spent years living here in the Fairy Realm, but I'm not permitted to know all their secrets."

"Okay," Gobo said. "We'll do it, but on one condition."

"What's that?" Wini asked.

"You tell us what's been going on right now," Gobo said. "I want to know what you meant by Wembley was conceived by Fairy magic, and why you left and never came back. I know you really didn't want to, but I want to know where you've been all this time!"

Wini sat down on the bed, looked down at her hands, and sighed. Then she looked at Gobo and Lou.

"All right," she said. "Sit down, and I'll tell you the story."


	20. The Dream Pool

_FLASHBACK_

* * *

It all started one day when Mac Fraggle began running around Fraggle Rock, jumping up and down, singing, dancing, and screaming "whoopee" at the top of his lungs. Darcy Fraggle and her six-year-old daughter, Mokey, looked at him as if he were crazy.

"Mac, what in the world is going on?" Darcy asked.

"It's a girl!" Mac shouted, happily. "It's a girl! Trish and I just had a beautiful, baby girl! Whoopeeeeee!"

"Oh, a new baby Fraggle!" Mokey shouted, excitedly clapping her hands.

Several Fraggles then gathered around Mac and Trish's cave, where the Fraggle doctor, Oberon, was leaving with his wife and nurse, Reena (Oberon and Reena were also Boober's parents). The sounds of a crying baby could be heard inside the cave.

"Mac told us it was a girl," Red's mother, Cerise, said.

"Yes," Oberon said. "A fine, healthy, baby girl. They named her Tosh."

"I wanna see!" three-year-old Red shouted, jumping up and down. "I wanna see, I wanna see, I wanna see!"

"I'm afraid you can't," Reena said. "Trish needs to rest, or else she might develop deep vein thrombophlebitis, or endometritis, or mastitis, or postpartum bleeding, or postpartum depression, or . . . ."

"They get the idea, dear," Oberon said. "Anyway, you can visit with Trish and little Tosh later, everybody."

Some of the Fraggles groaned, and left the cave. The next day, Wini Fraggle was at the Fraggle Pond with Darcy, Cerise, and Reena, with their children, plus Matt Fraggle's three-year-old nephew, Gobo. Cerise was looking after him while Matt went off to explore. Gobo's parents, Nelson and Marli, were also explorers, but they had been killed in a cave in.

That day, Mokey was playing with two-year-old Boober, while Gobo and Red chased each other around the pond, generally annoying each other. It was their favorite game. While Darcy, Cerise, Reena, and Wini were watching them, three more Fraggles came by with their children: Fannie Fraggle with her son, Large Marvin, who was three, Fuchsia Fraggle with her son, Feenie, who was two, and Verlene Fraggle with her son, Marlon, who was also three. Cerise saw them coming, and rolled her eyes.

"Oh brother," she said. "Here comes the Official Fraggle Rock Gossip Society."

"Now Cerise, be nice," Darcy said.

"It's hard to be nice to a Fraggle like Verlene," Cerise said. "Every time she opens her mouth, I want to stuff a sock into it."

Darcy nudged Cerise, just as Verlene, Fannie, and Fuchsia approached them.

"Hello ladies," Verlene said. "And how are you on this fine morning?"

"Oh we're fine, Verlene," Darcy said. "What have you been up to?"

"We were just visiting Trish and her baby," Fannie said. "And she is just the most precious little thing!"

"Almost as precious as my little Marlon," Verlene said, snuggling her son. "Now go play with Red and Gobo, darling. Mumsy wants to talk with the ladies for a bit."

"Yes, Mama," Marlon said, and he practically ran over to where Gobo and Red were playing. He loved to chase Red around, but for some reason, she didn't like it when he caught her. He couldn't understand that.

Fuchsia and Fannie put their children down and let them play with Gobo and Red for awhile, and then they sat down by the pond with the other Fraggles.

"Aren't children _wonder_ ful?" Verlene gushed. "And isn't also _wonder_ ful that almost every Fraggle has a child now?"

"Oh yes," Darcy said. "I find it very rewarding to be able to nurture a little Fraggle."

"It _is_ nice," Reena said. "Though you _do_ have to worry about all the germs, and airborne illnesses that a baby Fraggle can get down here. I'm just so relieved that I married a doctor! Then I won't have to worry so much about my little Boober getting infected with any terrible disease like pebble pox, or influenza, or . . . ."

"Give it a rest, Reena," Cerise said, rolling her eyes.

"What about you, Wini?" Verlene asked. "When are _you_ finally going to get married and have a baby?"

"Oh, well . . . ." Wini said, a bit hesitantly. She was the only one of her group of friends who was still single and childless, but she longed to have a baby. It was the one thing she wanted more than anything, and the entire Rock knew it.

"I'm sure there's still _some_ single Fraggles in the Rock," Verlene went on.

"What about Matt?" Fuchsia asked.

"Oh no, the Storyteller's already got dibs on him," Fannie said.

"Yeah, and I think he's the only single male Fraggle left in the Rock," Fuchsia said.

"Oh yes, I believe you're right," Verlene said. "Oh well. Don't feel bad about it, Wini. Being an old spinster isn't so bad!"

Verlene began to laugh, as did Fannie and Fuchsia. Wini wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. This happened every time Verlene was around. She always bragged about how wonderful it was to have a child, and she always seemed to take delight in rubbing the fact that Wini was childless in her face.

"That's not funny, Verlene!" Cerise shouted. "Why do you take so much delight in causing misery?"

"Because it's fun, of course!" Verlene shouted. "Besides, even if there _were_ any other single male Fraggles around, _nobody_ would _ever_ want to marry Wini, anyway! She's had so many boyfriends, because she could never make up her mind who she liked the best! And any time anyone's ever asked her to marry them, she couldn't decide whether or not to say yes, and just moved on because they were tired of waiting for her to make up her mind! As a matter of fact, I believe Prell was one of Wini's suitors, and he only married you on the rebound, Cerise."

Cerise was about to slug Verlene for that, when the group suddenly heard a scream, a splash, and a loud wail. The scream had come from Red, the splash was Red pushing Marlon into the pond, and the wail was Marlon once he hit the pond.

"My baby!" Verlene yelled, as she and Red ran over. "My baby, my baby, my poor baby! What happened?!"

"Wed push me in da pond!" Marlon wailed. "An' she did it on puh-puss, too!"

"Marlon tried to _kiss_ me!" Red shouted, scrunching her face in disgust. "Yuck!"

"Look at being childless this way, Wini," Verlene said, glaring at Cerise. "At least you won't be raising a little _monster_ like Cerise is!"

And with that, Verlene walked off, sticking her nose in the air. Fannie and Fuchsia collected their kids, and followed her.

"Am I in twouble, Mommy?" Red asked.

"Not at all," Cerise said. "I wouldn't like to be kissed by Marlon, either. _Blech_!"

"Why is Verlene always so mean to Wini, Mama?" Mokey asked.

"Because, dear, some Fraggles like to take pleasure in other Fraggles' pain," Darcy said. "Don't you pay any mind to what that big blowhard says, Wini!"

"Yeah, you're better off without a baby, anyway," Reena said. "Not only do you have to deal with morning sickness and backaches, and swollen ankles, but you also have to worry about such nasty things like fetal distress, breech position, placenta previa, meconium aspiration, nuchal cord, cephalopelvic disproportion . . . ."

"REENA!" Darcy and Cerise shouted in unison.

Wini merely sighed, and decided to go to the Trash Heap for advice. She figured if anyone could help her have a baby, the Trash Heap could.

"You are in the presence of," Philo and Gunge shouted when she got there.

"The _all_ knowing," Gunge said.

" _All_ seeing," Philo said.

"Trash Heap! Nyeah!" they both shouted in unison, as Marjory crawled out.

"Hello, little Fraggle," she said. "What can I do for you today?"

"Madam Heap," Wini said. "I'm so miserable. Almost every single Fraggle has a child now, except for me, and I want a baby so badly! It would mean everything in the world to me. Do you know how I can get one?"

"You don't get a baby just by wanting one badly," Marjory said. "There's a lot more that goes into it."

"Right," Philo said. "You gotta _make_ a baby."

"Yeah," Gunge said. "Go talk it over with your hubby, and go have some fun, if ya know what I mean. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge!"

Philo and Gunge began laughing then, and making whooping noises.

"Stop that, you too," Marjory scolded. "What do you think you are, eleven years old? Act your age!"

"Sorry, Marjory," Gunge and Philo said in unison.

"Besides, I don't have a husband," Wini said. "I'm not married."

"Then what you gotta do is _get_ married!" Gunge shouted.

"Yeah, problem solved," Philo said. "Once you get married, a baby will come along eventually!"

"It's not that easy," Wini said. "Most of the male Fraggles are already spoken for. I don't think there are any left."

"Hmm, that _does_ make it a problem, all right," Marjory said. "But don't you worry about having a baby, little Fraggle. Things happen in time. And once the time is right, you'll have your baby. You'll see."

"The Trash Heap has spoken!" Philo and Gunge shouted in unison. "Nyeah!"

Wini sighed, and returned to Fraggle Rock. On her way back to her cave, she passed the Storyteller's cave, and a bunch of the Fraggle children sitting outside. The Storyteller was telling them a story.

"The Dream Pool is a big lake," she said, "where anyone can go and make their fondest dreams come true! But no one knows where it is, or even if it exists. The legend says that there was once a king and queen who had dreamed of having children for many, many years, but they never did. So they went to the Dream Pool, where they could make any wish their heart desired."

Wini became intrigued by this story. At that moment, she decided to try and find the Dream Pool, and she ran off down the nearest tunnel. However, she should have stuck around to hear the rest of the Storyteller's story, because she missed a very important part of it.

"Even though the king and queen were permitted to make any wish their hearts desired," the Storyteller said, "it would come at a very high price."

Wini spent three days wandering around the tunnels of Fraggle Rock, venturing out farther than anyone had ever ventured before. Not even Matt Fraggle had been out this far, nor had Matt's Uncle Gobo, who was quite possibly the greatest explorer ever in Fraggle Rock. But nothing was going to stop her from finding the Dream Pool, even though she knew there was a chance that it didn't exist.

After going through a winding labyrinth of a tunnel, she came to a staircase. She climbed up, opened a door at the top, and found herself standing in front of a huge lake, with sparkling blue-violet colored water. On the other side of the lake there was what looked like a throne. Sitting in the throne was a Silly Creature with short, dark hair, wearing a red shirt and pants, and she was holding a crystal ball in one hand, and waving her other hand over it. She also did not look very friendly at all.

"Come forward!" she commanded. "Who are you, and what are you doing at my Dream Pool?"

"Ummm, I'm sorry to intrude, ma'am," Wini said. "But my name is Wini Fraggle, and I heard a story about your Dream Pool, and I was curious . . . ."

"If I have the power to make your fondest dream come true?" the Silly Creature asked.

"Yes, ma'am."

"Of course I do! I am Lilith, the Fairy Queen of Dreams. I have the power to control all dreams. I collect them here in my pool. Observe carefully. Look into the pool."

Lilith waved her hand over her crystal ball, and an image appeared in the water. There was Wini, rocking a baby Fraggle in her arms.

"I presume that's your heart's desire?" Lilith asked. "To have a baby?"

"Oh, yes, ma'am!" Wini shouted. "I'd give _any_ thing to have a baby!"

"Well, I _do_ have the power to make it happen. Though all dreams come with a price. I don't hand out my services to mere mortals for free, you know."

"Oh, but . . . . but I don't have anything to pay you with. I'm sorry to waste your time."

"Oh, you don't have to pay me right now. We can wait awhile. I'm sure we can reach some kind of agreement. Now then, if you agree to my terms, step into the water."

Wini was a bit hesitant, but looking at the image of her and the baby Fraggle in the Dream Pool made her decide to go for it. She stepped into the Dream Pool. Lilith smiled, and waved her hand over her crystal ball a couple of times.

"Hold out your hands," she directed.

Wini held out her hands, and a glowing ball of light appeared above them. When the glow subsided, a seed the size of a small marble appeared in her hands.

"Swallow that on the next full moon," Lilith said. "And make sure you do it with Moon Water. You'll be able to get it from your pond when the moon comes into it."

"And then what?" Wini asked.

"And then you wait. These things take time."

"Oh thank you, ma'am! Thank you _so_ much!"

"You're welcome. Now go. And tell no one what you have seen here!"

"Yes, ma'am! I promise! I won't tell a soul about you!"

Immediately, Wini ran back to Fraggle Rock, though it took her quite a bit of time to find her way back. She didn't care. She was too happy.

"Wini Fraggle, where in the Rock have you been for the past week?!" Cerise scolded the minute she returned.

"We were afraid something might have happened to you!" Darcy shouted. "After all, you didn't tell us where you were going, and we didn't know where you were."

"We were looking all over for you!" Reena shouted.

"Well, most of us were," Cerise said. "Reena just sat around here worrying."

"Now you come along with me to see Oberon," Reena said, taking Wini's arm. "We have to make sure you're all right! You know, no sickness, no soreness, no broken bones, no gangrene, no galloping tongue fever . . . ."

"Oh, Reena, don't worry about me," Wini said, shaking her teal-colored friend off. "I'm perfectly fine! In fact, I feel better than I've ever felt! Ooohh, I can't wait until the next full moon!"

"Why not?" Cerise asked.

"I can't tell you," Wini said. "But it'll be the most exciting night of my life!"

Darcy, Cerise, and Reena looked at each other, as Wini ran off to her cave to put her seed in a safe place. Two nights after she returned was the next full moon. Darcy was the Moon Greeter this month, and she decided to perform a dance for the celebration. Everyone was so busy watching her, that nobody noticed Wini taking some Moon Water from the Fraggle Pond. Then she swallowed her seed.

"That should do it," she said. "Now all I have to do is wait."


	21. Making a Deal

Wini spent the next few days waiting for something to happen, and she was getting pretty impatient. After two weeks, she was certain that nothing had happened. As she was walking through the Great Hall, mumbling about it, Matt and Gobo came along, discussing the adventure of exploring, and not paying attention to where they were going. Matt wound up bumping into her.

"Oh, excuse me, Wini," he said. "I didn't see you coming."

"Watch where you're going!" Wini snapped.

"Wow!" Gobo shouted. "You're weally cwanky today, Wini!"

"I know, I'm sorry," Wini said. "I didn't mean it, Matt. I really didn't. I haven't been feeling like myself."

"Quite all right," Matt said. "Come along, nephew!"

"'Kay," Gobo said, and he ran off after his uncle.

Throughout the day, Wini was beginning to feel extremely tired. All she wanted to do was sleep. At lunchtime, the smell of Reena's radish soup was making her queasy.

"But you _love_ radish soup!" Reena shouted.

"I know, but the thought of it makes me want to throw up!" Wini shouted. Then she moaned and held her head in her hands.

"You okay, Wini?" Cerise asked.

"Fine, I just have a headache!" Wini shouted. "Why does everybody keep asking me if I'm okay?!"

"Because you're not acting like yourself, and we're just concerned," Darcy said.

"Well, I'm _fine_!" Wini shouted. "There's absolutely _noth_ ing wrong with me! I've never felt better in my . . . . in my . . . . whooooa boy . . . ."

Wini began staggering back and forth a bit, and nearly fell over backwards. Darcy and Cerise caught her before she could.

"What now?" Cerise asked.

"Nothing, I'm just feeling a little dizzy," Wini said.

"Okay, that does it!" Reena shouted. "You are going straight to see Oberon right now! No ifs, ands, or buts! We're going!"

Wini tried to protest, but Darcy, Cerise, and Reena would have none of it. Usually, when Reena wanted to drag a Fraggle to see her husband, Darcy and Cerise had to talk her out of it, but this time, they agreed, since Wini really wasn't acting like herself. When they got to Reena's cave, Oberon made her, Darcy, and Cerise wait outside while he gave Wini an examination. Finally, Wini emerged from the cave, smiling a big, dopey smile.

"Well, Wini?" Cerise asked. "What happened?"

"I'm going to have a baby," Wini said, dreamily.

Darcy, Cerise, and Reena just stared at their friend. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. The minute they got over the shock, they began squealing in excitement.

"Really?!" Cerise shouted.

"Oh how wonderful!" Darcy shouted. "This is so exciting!"

"Here, sit down, sit down!" Reena shouted. "You're going to need a lot of rest."

Wini somewhat tuned out her friends' excited squeals and talking at once, put her hand on her stomach, and smiled.

By dinner time, the entire Rock had heard of the news. Most of the Fraggles were excited about it, but Verlene immediately began the rumor mill.

"How can she even be expecting?" she asked. "After all, she isn't even married!"

"Maybe it's one of those miracle babies," Fuchsia said, shrugging. "You know, like it's a miracle she's even having one. Remember when you were expecting Marlon, Verlene? Everyone called it a miracle, too, considering how _old_ you were when you had him. And of course, there was the fact that you were so in shock after he was born, you dropped him on his head . . . . several times, if memory serves. Is that how his eye got all squinty?"

"Yes, Fuchsia, I know," Verlene said, giving Fuchsia a sharp glare. "If you ask me, I think Wini just went out to have some kind of fling. You know she was gone for six days a couple of weeks ago. She probably went out, met some degenerate Cave Fraggle, did the Horizontal Mambo while she was gone, and didn't come back for six days because she was too embarrassed!"

"Oh, really, Verlene!" Fannie shouted. "If it's really as bad as that, then why did she bother to come back?"

"Who knows?" Verlene asked. "Wini's dumb enough to do something like that. She probably did the Horizontal Mambo with the whole of Fraggle Cave!"

"What makes you say that?" Fannie asked.

"I asked her who the father was," Verlene said. "And she refused to tell me! If you ask me, she doesn't _know_ who the father is! She probably wandered along, lost in her own little dream world like she always is, some low-life Fraggle came up to her, gave her some radish beer, and took advantage of her while she was plastered. It probably took her six days just to get sober! It wouldn't surprise me in the least. This little Fraggle she's carrying is nothing more than an accident!"

Wini didn't care about the rumors of her and some unknown Fraggle spending a night (or two or three) together. All she cared about now was her baby, and doing everything she could to make sure it was going to be healthy. And she definitely didn't consider her baby to be an accident at all, no matter what Verlene said!

Months later, the big day arrived. Wini had given birth to a little boy Fraggle she named Wembley, and it was definitely love at first sight. She was so happy with the little, fuzzy green bundle she was holding, she actually began crying. She finally had a baby of her own. Wembley quickly became the apple of his mother's eye, her pride and joy. She had never felt happier in her entire life. She was so happy, she completely forgot her agreement with Lilith, and that she still owed her something in return for her services.

Five years later, Wini was returning from the Gorgs' garden after helping Darcy gather some radishes. She had left Wembley in the care of Matt, because Wembley and Gobo had grown very fond of each other. She saw the two Fraggles coloring when she came to retrieve her son.

"Hi, boys," she said.

"Mommy!" Wembley shouted, happily, and practically flung himself into his mother's arms. Then he held up a piece of paper. "Look what I made, Mommy!"

Wini shifted Wembley to one arm, and took the piece of paper. It was a drawing of a tall, yellow Fraggle with green hair in a ponytail wearing a white dress with purple flowers, holding hands with a short, green Fraggle with yellow hair wearing a banana tree shirt, and there were red hearts floating around them. "I luv momie" was written across the bottom.

"I made that 'specially for you, Mommy!" Wembley shouted, excitedly. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, I do," Wini said, giving her son a big hug and kiss. "It's beautiful! We'll put it up on the cave wall right away when we get home."

"We gotta go home now?"

"Yes, we do. It's almost your bedtime. Goodbye, Gobo. Thank your uncle for watching Wembley for me."

"Okay," Gobo said. "Bye, Wembley!"

"Bye, Gobo!" Wembley called, waving to his orange friend as his mother carried him back to their cave.

When Wini and Wembley returned to their cave, Wini put Wembley down so she could hang up the picture he drew. After she hung up the picture, she changed Wembley into his nightshirt, picked him up, and swung him around a couple of times before putting him in his bed. Once she did, she handed Wembley his little Fraggle doll she had made for him, tucked him in, and kissed him goodnight.

"Goodnight, Mommy," Wembley said, sleepily. "I love you."

"I love you, too, sweetie-kins," Wini said, giving her son another kiss.

Wini sat down next to Wembley, and hummed a lullaby while stroking his hair. Even after Wembley had dropped off to sleep, she remained sitting next to him, stroking his hair. She thought she was the luckiest Fraggle alive. Suddenly, she heard a crash of thunder, and saw a flash of lightning. Startled, she stood up, and whirled around. Standing before her was Lilith, the Fairy Queen of Dreams.

"Hello there," she said. "I've come for my payment. Or have you forgotten?"

"Well . . . . uhhh . . . . I . . . . uhhh . . . ." Wini stammered.

"My, what an adorable child," Lilith said, ignoring Wini's stammering, and walking over to the little green Fraggle, who, amazingly, was still sound asleep. Lilith bent down, and picked him up.

"This will do," she said.

"What?!" Wini shouted. "No, you can't! Please don't take my baby!"

"You said you would give anything to have a baby. You never said anything about keeping him after he grew out of the baby stage. Your child is not a baby anymore."

"What are you going to do with him?"

"Oh, I'm sure I'll think of something. He's a little young right now, but he can be trained to become an obedient little servant, obeying my every command, no questions asked. Unless, of course, he wishes to suffer the consequences of disobeying my orders."

Wini could only imagine what those consequences might have been. She didn't want to know about that.

"No, please, don't!" she begged. "You can't, you just can't!"

"And why not?" Lilith asked. "I've kept my end of our deal, and now is the time for you to keep yours! I'm taking the child as payment for my services! All dreams come with a price, my dear."

"But this price is much too high! What if I refuse to pay?"

"Then this is what could happen to your precious baby!"

Lilith held out her hand and a crystal ball appeared in it. Wini looked into it, and saw Wembley playing in an unknown cave. Suddenly, rocks began falling. Wini looked away before she could see the outcome, but she could still hear Wembley's voice scream from the crystal ball. It was gruesome thought, but Wini just couldn't give this Silly Creature her child.

"Please, there must be _some_ thing I can do to keep you from taking Wembley!" she shouted. "What if . . . . what if you take me instead?"

"Excuse me?" Lilith asked, giving Wini a strange look.

"I said take me instead! Please, I beg of you, take me instead of Wembley! Whatever you're going to do with him, do with me instead!"

"You realize, of course, this means you will have to spend the rest of your life as my servant, you will never be able to return to Fraggle Rock, and you will _never_ see your child again! Take a moment to think about it."

Wini just stood there for several moments. No matter what she chose, she would never see Wembley again.

"Make up your mind, Fraggle!" Lilith shouted. "You, or the child? Which is it going to be?"

"Me," Wini said. "Take me! I'll do whatever you say, I'll be your servant. I'd rather spend my life as someone's slave than knowing it was happening to my baby. But can you at least wait until tomorrow, so I can arrange to have someone take care of him? I'd hate to have him wake up tomorrow morning and find me gone."

"Very well," Lilith replied, putting Wembley back in his bed. "Tomorrow at noon, I will meet you at the Cave of Shadows. And you better be there, or else something very unfortunate may happen to your child!"

And with a wave of her hand, Lilith was gone. Wini felt a little dizzy, and she sat down. Then she looked over at Wembley, sleeping peacefully, as if nothing had happened. She then gently picked him up, so as not to wake him, and hugged him close, as she began to sob uncontrollably.

The next morning, Wini and Wembley walked to Matt and Gobo's cave, and knocked.

"Good morning, Wini," Matt said, when he and Gobo came to the door. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you'd take care of Wembley for awhile," Wini said. "I, uhhh, I need to go help Darcy and Cerise gather up radishes."

"Certainly, certainly," Matt said. "I do have a bit of exploring to do, but I'm sure Gobo won't mind watching little Wembley, would you Gobo?"

"No, Uncle Matt," Gobo said. "Wembley's my best buddy!"

"Oh good," Wini said. Then she handed Matt a bag that had Wembley's things in it. "If you could take this, just in case I, uhhh, I end up coming back later than I anticipate, you know. Just in case."

"How long are you planning on being?" Matt asked. "It looks like you're giving me things he'll need if you're not going to be coming back at all!"

Wini laughed nervously, trying to make Matt's comment sound like a joke. Matt and Gobo just looked at her, and then walked back into their cave. Once they were gone, Wini turned to Wembley, and hugged him close.

"Okay, sweetie-kins," she said. "Mommy has to go away now, so I want you to be a _very_ good boy for Uncle Matt, okay?"

"When are you coming back, Mommy?" Wembley asked.

"I don't know when, honey. I don't want to do this, I _really_ don't, but I have to. But Uncle Matt will take very good care of you, and you'll be with Gobo. Everything will be all right, you'll see."

"Can't I go with you?"

"No, baby. You have to stay here."

"But why do you hafta go away?"

"It's something I can't tell you, or anyone else, sweetie. I know you may not think it is now, but it's really for the best. Just remember that I love you very, very much. I love you more than anything else in the entire universe, Wembley."

"I love you, too, Mommy. I promise I'll be good."

Wini gave Wembley a big kiss, and hugged him a little harder. She didn't want to let go, but she knew she had to. She finally let go, and walked off, not looking back. She knew if she looked back, she'd never be able to leave.

* * *

 _END OF FLASHBACK_


	22. The Final Spell

"Then I went off for the Cave of Shadows, and . . . ." Wini said, finishing up the story.

"And you never came back," Gobo said. "Wow."

"It's been eating at me ever since," Wini said. "I hated to do it . . . ."

"But you had to," Lou said. "Who knows what she would have done if you refused."

"Though it still doesn't explain this one thing," Gobo said. "Why does she have a picture of you in her cave, or whatever it is she calls it?"

"She likes to keep a record of those whom she's donated her 'services' to," Wini explained.

"That would explain it," Gobo said. "I still can't get over the story, though. I never knew Wembley was conceived magically! He must be the only creature in the universe that was!"

"I don't know about that," Wini said. "I've been trying to find an alternative in order to get Wembley off the hook of having to become the Fairy Lord. I just need you two to get his doll from the Eternity Tree, and place it in the castle of Fraggledonia. It will bring him back to Fraggle Rock, but I don't know how it will do it. I already told you, I'm magically bound by Lilith from doing it myself."

"We understand, Wini," Lou said. "And don't worry! We'll get Wembley out of this fix!"

And with that, Gobo and Lou ran through the gateway, into the Nexus, and down the stairway to the forge and telescope room. Gobo used the book to turn day into night, while Lou climbed the ladder and loaded one of the lenses into the telescope. Then she and Gobo turned the telescope until they reached the correct constellation and a mold appeared. They did this three more times, and then went directly to the forge to make the Dream Jewels. The first one was a musical note with two red gems and a yellow gem. The second was a fish with one blue gem, one yellow gem, and one clear gem. The third depicted the Tower of Dreams in the Fairy Ream. It had two blue gems and one clear gem. The fourth and final one was a mermaid with three red gems, however, Gobo and Lou didn't know what a mermaid was.

"What is that?" Lou asked.

"Looks like a Silly Creature crossed with a fish," Gobo said. "You know, like a Merggle."

"Oh. Anyway, should we open the gateway to the Eternal Tree first?"

"No, I think we should make the potion at the Herbalist's House first. Wini said we're going to need it to find Wembley's Fraggle doll."

"Right. Let's go."

The two Fraggles went back up the stairs to the Nexus, and Gobo pulled the right lever to return the Herbalist's House gateway. Once they arrived, Gobo put the page into the book.

"Root shriveling potion," he read. "And just our luck, more scrambled words."

"You didn't expect it to be _that_ easy, did you?" Lou asked, picking up a pencil. Once she unscrambled the words, Gobo went to the shelf.

"We need heated red rose petals," Lou said, "heated lemongrass, rose liquid essence, crushed and heated orange peel, and grey rose seeds."

"Check!" Gobo shouted, and he immediately got to work. Once he got the potion mixed, he poured it into a bottle, and corked it.

"Okay," he said. "Now back to the Nexus to find the gateway to the Eternal Tree."

The two Fraggles ran through the gateway and Lou began pulling the left lever to find the gateway they needed. There was one gateway left, and the gems they needed to match was one yellow, and two purple gems. They looked at the Dream Jewels and contemplated what to do. Finally, Gobo chose the tower jewel, and the music jewel. After using the device to turn the gems in their correct positions, the gateway opened, and the two Fraggles walked through it, but there was nothing there.

"I don't see anything, do you?" Lou asked.

"No," Gobo said, leaning his hand on a wall. "I hope this isn't some kind of trick! Maybe we should go back to Wini and tell her about this before . . . ."

Before Gobo could finish his sentence, the wall he was leaning against opened, and he fell over backwards.

"Oof!" he shouted.

"Gobo, are you okay?" Lou asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," Gobo said, standing up and brushing himself off. "Darn hidden doors!"

"Hey, look! It's Wembley's doll!"

Lou reached into the hidden doorway, and tried to grab Wembley's stuffed Fraggle, but it was so tangled up in roots, she couldn't budge it. She stopped after awhile, because she didn't want to wind up ripping the doll's arm off.

"Weird," she said. "It's like those roots are holding it captive."

"Good thing we made the root shriveling potion first," Gobo said, uncorking his bottle. He poured the potion on the roots, and they shriveled up immediately. Then Lou was able to grab the doll.

"Now back to the castle!" Lou shouted.

Gobo nodded, and he and Lou raced into the Nexus, and pulled the lever that would open the gateway to the Fraggledonian castle. Once they got it, they ran in. A crystal ball was sitting at on top of the bottom step. There was an image of Gobo and Wembley's room in it, and Mokey, Red, and Boober were there as well.

"Hey, guys!" Gobo shouted.

"Gobo, is that you?" Red asked. "Where are you?"

"The Fraggledonian castle," Gobo said. "You have any idea why this crystal ball is here with us?"

"The Trash Heap probably sent it there," Mokey said.

"Do you guys have one there with you, or can you just hear us?" Lou asked.

"No, we don't have any crystal ball with us," Boober said. "We can only hear your voices. But keep it down before someone walks in on us and tries to lock us up because we're talking to voices that aren't there, okay?"

"Oh Boober!" Red groaned. "Have you found Wembley yet?"

"Sort of," Lou said. "We just have to do this one thing, and hopefully, it'll all be over! Ready, Gobo?"

"Ready!" Gobo shouted.

Gobo walked over to the staircase, and placed the Fraggle doll next to the bottom step on the floor. Once it was in place, sparkles began to fly up from the floor until they surrounded the doll. A bright light began to glow from the crystal ball, drowning out the image of Mokey, Boober, and Red.

"Hey, what's that light?" Red asked.

"What's going on?" Mokey asked.

"I can't see!" Boober shouted. "We'll all be blind! Aaaahhhh!"

Finally, the sparkles disappeared, and so had Wembley's doll. Gobo and Lou looked into the crystal ball. The light was beginning to fade out. Once it was completely gone, there was Wembley in his bed, sleeping peacefully, with his doll tucked underneath one arm.

"We did it!" Gobo shouted. "Yay! It's over!"

"Not quite," Red said. She had climbed the ladder up to Wembley's bed, grabbed his shoulder, and started shaking him. "He's still under that sleeping spell!"

"What do we do now?" Lou asked.

"I guess we go back for more instructions," Gobo said, shrugging. "Come on, Lou!"

Gobo put the crystal ball down, and he and Lou went back to the Nexus to to underwater retreat. When they got there, they found Wini putting a cork in a bottle.

"Hi," she said. "Did it work?"

"Yeah, it worked," Gobo said. "But Red said he was still under Lilith's sleeping spell."

"Yeah, I kind of had a feeling he was," Wini said, and she handed Gobo the bottle. "Here, there's some awakening potion left."

"Great!" Gobo shouted. Then he grabbed Wini's hand, and began running toward the gateway. "Come on, let's go home! Wait until Wembley sees you, Wini! He'll be so happy you're finally back!"

Before Gobo could make it to the gateway, Wini extracted her hand, and turned away. Gobo stopped, and looked at her oddly.

"What's the matter?" he asked. "Don't you want to come back to Fraggle Rock with us?"

"I can't, Gobo," Wini said.

"You can't? What do you mean you can't?! Of course you can! Come on, Lilith isn't around! We can escape through the Nexus to the Fraggledonian castle and go back to Fraggle Rock before she even notices you're gone! And if she _does_ follow you to Fraggle Rock, we'll protect you!"

"No, Gobo, it isn't that."

"Look, if you're worried about what everyone's gonna say about what happened, and where you've been, don't worry about it. We don't have to tell anyone. It's none of their business, anyway!"

"No, Gobo! Please try to understand, I can't go back to Fraggle Rock! It's because of the deal I made with Lilith! I'm magically bound to remain her servant forever! I can't simply escape just like that!"

"You're kidding. Of course you can!"

Wini looked at Gobo, and walked over to the gateway. When she tried to step through it, sparks flew out and blocked her path. Gobo and Lou cringed. The sparks subsided when Wini stood away from the gateway.

"Wow," Lou said. "You really _can't_ escape!"

"It was part of the deal I made with Lilith," Wini said. "There's nothing I can do about it. There's nothing anyone can do about it, unless they pay the price. The price I paid for wanting a baby is my freedom. I couldn't even imagine what the price would be if I asked Lilith for another favor! What if involved Wembley? I couldn't bear it if something awful happened to him!"

"So there's nothing we can do about it?" Gobo asked.

"Not unless you want to spend your life as a trash heap or worse for eternity," Wini said. "That's what happened to our Madam Trash Heap. I found out she questioned the Dream Librarian about the prophecy, and she demanded Lilith turn her into a trash heap, but not a sentient one. She came to life when her two shills, Philo and Gunge, came along. Nobody knows how it happened, but it did. I guess I should consider myself lucky that I'm only a servant, as opposed to a pile of garbage."

"But isn't it awful being a slave?" Gobo asked. "I know I'd _hate_ it!"

"It's not as bad as it sounds," Wini said, shrugging. "Despite how mean Lilith looks, and acts, she's really not so bad. Most of what she has me do is clean her mansion, fetch things for her, domestic chores, that sort of thing. She lets me read her magic books, and play around with mixing potions at the Herbalist's House, as long as I don't blow anything up. She doesn't work me too hard, and she's never beaten me or struck me, or anything like that. She doesn't yell or scream at me if I accidentally do something wrong, she doesn't make me call her 'mistress,' or 'your majesty' or anything like that. She won't let me call her Lilith to her face, but she's perfectly happy with me calling her just plain 'ma'am.' She takes me with her wherever she goes, and she allows me to have tea with her in the tea room."

"That's probably why there was radish tea in that teapot," Lou said.

"Right," Wini said. "She always makes sure I have radishes. She even lets me look in on Wembley from time to time through her crystal ball."

"But what about that sleeping spell you were under when we found you?" Gobo asked.

"It wasn't Lilith's idea to do that," Wini said. "She was following orders from the Dream Librarian. Until the next Fairy Lord is found, every Fairy takes orders from the Dream Librarian. When they found out I was trying to help you two get Wembley back to Fraggle Rock, the Dream Librarian demanded Lilith put me under the sleeping spell."

Suddenly, the three Fraggles heard footsteps coming down the hallway. Wini gasped.

"It's Lilith!" she shouted. "Quickly, you two must go now! She mustn't find you here!"

"Okay," Gobo said. "And thanks for your help, Wini!"

"I just wish there was something we could do to give you your freedom," Lou said.

"I can't allow you to," Wini said. "You two mean so much to my little Wembley, I don't want him to lose you in his life. Just promise me one thing. Don't tell anyone where I am. Don't tell anyone you even saw me. If Wembley were to find out, he'd only try to find me and make a deal with Lilith. I don't want him to become a servant for the rest of his life."

"We won't," Gobo said. "We promise."

"Here, you'd better keep these," Lou said, handing Wini the Dream Jewels. "It'll be easier for Wembley to stay away from here if he can't access the gateway."

"Thank you," Wini said. "I'll figure out how to close the gateway in the Fraggledonian castle so he can't even access the Nexus. Now go!"

Gobo and Lou waved goodbye, and ran into the gateway as fast as they could. The minute they were gone, the gateway disappeared, and the door opened. Lilith walked into the room, and crossed the bridge to the glass enclosure.

"They left, did they?" she asked. "Hmm. Too bad. I would have liked to have met them. Very resourceful little Fraggles, I must say. I admire that in a potential adversary. Oh well. At least they left the Dream Jewels. Give them to me."

"Yes, ma'am," Wini said, handing over the Dream Jewels. "You knew they were here all along?"

"Of course I did," Lilith said, taking the Dream Jewels. She waved her hand, and they disappeared into thin air. "If I didn't want them here, I would have destroyed the notes you left for them. I told you, I don't want to have to listen to orders of a Fraggle. Especially an indecisive little one like that son of yours! Oh well. It's all over now. Come along, let's have a cup of tea."

"Yes, ma'am."

Wini stood up, and followed Lilith down the corridors to the tea room. They sat down at the table, and Lilith levitated the teapot. There was something different about her, but Wini wasn't quite sure what it was.

"I have news for you, Wini," Lilith said. "Very good news, in fact. We'll be able to fulfill the prophecy, and we won't even have to go after your son again."

"Really?" Wini asked. "You found another creature who was conceived by Fairy magic? What kind of a creature is it? Oh, tell me, ma'am! Please tell me!"

"Patience, my dear, patience," Lilith said. "You'll find out when the time is right. But it's going to take awhile. It will be nine months before he arrives, and then it will take another eighteen years before he can assume the title of Fairy Lord."

Wini was still a little confused, when she noticed Lilith was patting her stomach. Then the realization hit her. Lilith was pregnant. She had used the spell she had given Wini years ago on herself in order to fulfill the prophecy.

"Oh, that's wonderful, ma'am!" Wini shouted, happily. "Just wonderful!"


	23. Awakening

When Gobo and Lou reached Fraggle Rock, they immediately ran to Gobo and Wembley's cave. Red heard them, and met them at the entrance.

"Finally!" she shouted. "I hope you've got a way to wake him up!"

"Don't worry, we do!" Gobo shouted, as he ran into the room.

"Gangway, gangway!" Boober shouted. "One side! One side! Let a Fraggle through!"

"Boober, there are only six of us here," Lou pointed out. "I don't think that calls for the yelling of 'gangway'."

"Oh," Boober said, and then he cleared his throat.

Gobo ignored the blue Fraggle, and climbed up to Wembley's bunk. He managed to get his friend into a sitting position, pulled the cork out of the bottle with his teeth, and poured the rest of the awakening potion into his mouth. Once Wembley swallowed, he opened his eyes, yawned, and stretched.

"Hi, Gobo," he said, sitting up. Then he saw the others in the room. "Hi, everybody! What are you all doing in here?"

"Yaaaayyyy!" Gobo cheered. "It worked!"

"Hooray!" Mokey shouted.

"Whoo hoo hoo hoo!" Red shouted, and she began dancing.

"Am I missing something here?" Wembley asked, looking at his friends oddly.

"Never mind, Wembley," Gobo said. "We'll tell you about it later. Right now, I think all I want to do is get some sleep!"

"Me too," Lou said, stretching and stifling a yawn. "I feel like I could sleep for a month!"

"Wow, you guys look wiped," Wembley said. "You look like you haven't slept in days!"

"I don't think we have," Gobo said.

"What?" Wembley asked, giving Gobo a confused look.

"Like I said, Wembley, I'll explain later," Gobo said, yawning.

"Come on, Wembley," Red said. "Let's go get some Doozer sticks, okay?"

"Sure," Wembley said, climbing down the ladder. "I'll catch up with you, okay?"

"Okay," Mokey said, and she, Red, Boober, and Lou left the cave.

Once the Fraggles left, Gobo walked over to his bed, and practically collapsed into it, while Wembley watched him.

"Gobo, I had another weird dream," he said.

"Oh yeah?" Gobo asked, sitting up for a minute. "What happened in it this time?"

"Well, there was this Silly Creature, and she took me away from Fraggle Rock. She said I had to go with her to some place called the Fairy Realm, and become the new Fairy Lord, and that I had to rule over the Fairy Realm, but I didn't want to do that, and the Silly Creature said I had to because there was this prophecy that had to be fulfilled, or something like that. She locked me in a room, and said I had to stay there until I was ready, and I couldn't get out, because when the Silly Creature left, the doors disappeared, and there weren't any windows. Then, my mom suddenly appeared in the room, and she told me that everything was going to be okay, and that you and Lou were on their way to help, and then she said she had to leave, and told me to go to sleep, and when I woke up, everything would be back to normal, so I did."

"Then what happened?"

"Then I woke up, and all you guys were in here and everyone started cheering. Weird, huh?"

"Yeah, that's pretty weird all right."

Gobo yawned again, and closed his eyes to try to go to sleep. Wembley was about to leave the cave, when he stopped, and looked back at Gobo.

"Gobo?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Gobo asked, leaning up for the moment.

"Do you think I'll ever see my mom again? I mean, not just in my dreams, but in person? Do you think she'll ever come back to Fraggle Rock?"

"I don't know, Wembley. She might. Stranger things have happened, you know. In the meantime, you'll just have to see her in your dreams."

"Yeah, I guess so. I guess it's better than nothing. Oh well. See you later, Gobo!"

And with that, Wembley left the cave. Gobo sighed, closed his eyes, and settled down for a well deserved rest.

The End


End file.
